Therapy of Pragmatic Disorders in Brain-damaged Individuals

University of Neuchatel

Status

Completed

Conditions

Brain Injuries, Traumatic

Right Hemispheric Stroke

Treatments

Behavioral: Speech and language therapy

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT04708561

Unine2020-00301

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to assess speech therapy's effectiveness in understanding other people's thoughts (implied) using written stories. The main objective is to examine whether the therapy improves understanding of the stories worked on in the sessions. We also explore whether the observed progress is maintained one month after the end of treatment and whether it is generalized to neuropsychological tests, video material, and the participants' daily lives.

This therapy will be administered to four individuals with brain lesions, for six weeks, at the rate of two weekly sessions of one hour.

Enrollment

2 patients

Sex

All

Ages

20 to 65 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Have been the victim, in adulthood, of a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) or a stroke, with at least right frontal lesions (objectified by imaging). The time between the TBI or stroke and participation in this study should be greater than six months.
Be of French mother tongue or have an excellent mastery of French.
Be between 20 and 65 years old.
Be right-handed
Present problems in the understanding of non-literal language (irony, indirect requests), objectified by a neuropsychological examination.

Exclusion criteria

Have a history of psychiatric disorder affecting social cognition (according to DSM-V criteria), and more specifically: autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, major depressive disorders, borderline personality disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, phobia social and eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia).
Have chronic symptoms of an alcohol or drug dependence disorder (according to DSM-V criteria).
Have significant uncorrected vision and/or hearing problems.
Have aphasia and/or significant reading and comprehension problems.
Present significant spatial neglect.
Present an impaired capacity for judgment and discernment, objectified by a neuropsychological evaluation.
Have been the victim of several TBI or stroke