The purpose of this investigation is to further develop and test a treatment for word-finding problems in aphasia. The treatment is designed to strengthen meaning associations within categories of words (e.g., animals, tools, fruits). The treatment is also designed to be used as a search strategy for use in instances of word-finding difficulty. The study was devised to evaluate the extent to which treatment increases the ability to recall trained as well as untrained words.

Condition	Intervention
Aphasia Speech Disorders Language Disorders	Behavior: Semantic Feature Training

Further Study Details: 

Primary Outcomes: The primary outcome measure is a metric that incorporates acquisition, response generalization within category, and response generalization across category effects. Probes of naming performance will be completed at 6 weeks post-treatment and performance.
Secondary Outcomes: Naming of trained and untrained typical exemplars of trained categories.; Naming of trained and untrained atypical exemplars of; trained categories.; Naming of exemplars of untrained categories.; Production of information units in story retells.; All of the above to be measured repeatedly throughout the; course of the investigation as well as at 2 & 6 weeks post-tx.
Expected Total Enrollment:  88

The purpose of the proposed research is to examine the effects of a semantically-oriented treatment on word retrieval in persons with aphasia. The planned investigations are designed to further the development of semantic feature training so that it may serve as not only as a mechanism for improving disrupted lexical semantic processing, but also as a compensatory strategy during word retrieval failures. The proposed research will also address the issue of exemplar typicality (Kiran & Thompson, 2003) by examining the effects of training typical versus atypical exemplars of various categories with individuals with different types of aphasia. A series of 24 single subject experimental designs will be conducted in the context of a group design to address the following experimental questions:

1.Will training atypical examples of living and artifact noun categories using semantic feature training result in a significantly different outcome* than training typical examples of living and artifact noun categories? 2.Will training of one category of nouns using semantic feature training result in improved retrieval of untrained categories of nouns? 3.Will effects of semantic feature training vary across aphasia types? 4.Will semantic feature training result in increased production of content during discourse? 5.Will generalization to untrained typical examples vary across generalization lists that are repeatedly exposed and those that are limited in exposure? (i.e., Does repeated exposure appear to contribute to generalization?)

* outcome measure will reflect acquisition, response generalization within category, and response generalization across category effects of treatment.

Ages Eligible for Study:  21 Years   -   75 Years,  Genders Eligible for Study:  Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: Diagnosis of Wernicke’s, Broca’s, or Conduction aphasia with significant word-retrieval deficits At least 6 months post-onset of single, left-hemisphere stroke minimum of high-school education Visual and auditory acuity sufficient for experimental tasks Nonverbal intelligence within normal limits

Exclusion Criteria: • Diagnosed mental illness other than depression • Neurological condition other than that which resulted in aphasia • History of alcohol or substance abuse • Non-native English speaker • Premorbid history of speech/language disorder

Please refer to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov identifier  NCT00125242

Reuben T Walize, MPH      801-582-1565  Ext. 4857    reuben.walize@med.va.gov
Laurence J Meyer, MD, Ph.D.      801-582-1565    laurence.meyer@med.va.gov

Utah
      VA Salt Lake Healthcare System, Salt Lake City,  Utah,  84148,  United States; Recruiting
      Va Salt Lake City Healthcare System, Salt Lake City,  Utah,  84148,  United States; Recruiting

Study chairs or principal investigators

Julie L Wambaugh, Ph.D.,  Principal Investigator,  VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System   

Study ID Numbers:  C3826R
Last Updated:  August 1, 2005
Record first received:  July 29, 2005
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00125242
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-08-02