Language Treatment for Progressive Aphasia

Baycrest

Status: Completed

Conditions: Nonfluent Progressive Aphasia; Primary Progressive Aphasia; Semantic Dementia

Treatments: Behavioral: Errorless learning

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00957710

REB 09-24

Details and patient eligibility

About

Progressive aphasia is characterized by a steady and progressive loss of language skills in the presence of relatively preserved memory, attention, and thinking. The aim of this study is to slow the progression of language decline in progressive aphasia via language therapy. The first goal of this study is to improve naming abilities of individuals with progressive aphasia. This will be accomplished by carrying out an intensive treatment program for anomia. The second goal is to evaluate whether this intense language treatment re-activates affected areas and/or connections within the language network, using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (to measure neural activity in specific brain regions) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging tractography (to measure the connectivity between specific brain regions). This is the first study on progressive aphasia addressing both treatment and imaging in the same patients.

Enrollment: 7 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 40 to 80 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of progressive aphasia
• Native English speaker or fluent in English
• Adequate hearing and vision (not requiring more than +6 diopter correction)
• Willing and able to participate in each phase of the study (including two fMRI sessions)

Exclusion criteria

• Contraindications to fMRI (e.g., claustrophobia, pacemaker, ferromagnetic implant)
• Current medical or psychiatric condition affecting cognition (other than progressive aphasia)

Trial design

7 participants in 1 patient group

langauge therapy

Other group

Description:

Naming therapy

Treatment:

Behavioral: Errorless learning