Sentence Production Training in Aphasia

Structural Priming as a Treatment Component in Aphasia

This project focuses on developing a novel treatment for sentence production and comprehension in aphasia, using implicit priming. First set of experiments will aim examine which learning conditions are most effective in creating maximal training gains. Then, in a later study, the investigators will develop and test the efficacy of a novel treatment study based on findings from the first set of the studies.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Aphasia
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Sentence training

Detailed Description

Over five years, the investigators will conduct a series of studies to develop a novel intervention strategy for improving sentence production and comprehension in persons with aphasia. Specifically, the investigators will use implicit learning of grammar as a novel facilitator for language recovery in aphasia. The planned studies seek to test the hypothesis that implicit learning alters the central language system in PWA, creating lasting and generalized improvements in both sentence production and comprehension. Aim 1 will determine the extent to which different learning conditions modulate immediate and long-term improvement in sentence production. The investigators integrate multiple theories of language learning and apply them to make predictions about the trajectory of priming-induced learning in PWA. In Aim 2, using a set of eyetracking and sentence comprehension tasks, it will be investigated whether the effects of priming in production generalize to off-line (accuracy) and on-line (eye fixations) sentence comprehension and determine which learning conditions result in greater cross-modality generalization. In Aim 3, the investigators will develop and establish Phase I efficacy data of an implicit priming treatment, incorporating the crucial learning conditions supporting maximal retention from Aims 1 and 2. The project will recruit both individuals with aphasia and without aphasia.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 104
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jiyeon Lee, PhD; Phone Number: 7654943810; Email: lee1704@purdue.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Jiyeon Lee; Phone Number: 7654943810; Email: lee1704@purdue.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Indiana
    • West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, 47907
      • Recruiting
      • Purdue University
      • Contact: Jiyeon Lee; Phone Number: 765-494-3810; Email: lee1704@purdue.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Individuals with post-stroke aphasia
• At least 6 months post-onset of eft hemisphere stroke
• Native speaker of English
• Normal or corrected to normal hearing and vision
• High-school educated
• Difficulty communicating in sentences, with some ability to use words independently

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe apraxia of speech
• Other neurological conditions affecting communication (e.g., dementia)
• Uncontrolled psychiatric/psychological conditions affecting thinking and communication
• Active alcohol/substance abuse

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Structural priming training; Participants will be enrolled in 3 sessions of structural priming training (for experiment 1-3) or up to 15 treatment sessions (for experiment 4). Each session will be about 2 hour long, consisting of a set of tasks, including repeating, making, and remembering various types of sentences. In experiment 1-3, each participant will receive two different experimental priming conditions that are being compared within each session. In experiment 4, participants will receive a structural priming treatment in a single-subject design.

Behavioral: Sentence training; Participants will be trained to read, make, and recall sentences during each session.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Production of target sentences on action description pictures	Production accuracy (percent correct)	From baseline up to 1-week post training or 2-month post treatment
Comprehension of target sentences in a sentence-to-picture matching task	Comprehension accuracy (percent correct)	From baseline up to 1-week post training or 2-month post treatment
Real-time comprehension of target sentences in a sentence-to-picture matching task	Changes in eye fixations to the target picture	From baseline up to 1-week post training or 2-month post treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Connected speech production - story retell	Increased production of complex utterances as measured by proportion of sentence-level utterances out of all utterances	From baseline up to 2-month post treatment
Connected speech production - picture description	Increased production of complex utterances as measured by proportion of sentence-level utterances out of all utterances	From baseline up to 2-month post treatment
Production of untrained sentences	Production accuracy (percent correct)	From baseline up to 2-month post treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Purdue University
• Collaborators: University of California, San Diego; Temple University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jiyeon Lee, PhD, Purdue University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 16, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 10, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): June 13, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 14, 2024
• Last Verified: December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: sentences; aphasia training; aphasia treatment; grammar
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Communication Disorders; Language Disorders; Speech Disorders; Aphasia
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-2021-659

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: We plan to share de-identified individual data with other researchers upon request. Other study materials (e.g., analytic code) will be made available via Open Science Forum. We will also make study-specific data and materials available for journal publications as supplemental materials, as relevant.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Starting 6 months after publication
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Researchers of OSF will access the study materials or data made available via OSF. Deidentified individual data can also be shared with other researchers upon requests and the PI will review each request. Other supporting materials such as study stimuli or protocols will be shared with other researchers upon request.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No