Primary Progressive Aphasia Multicomponent Language Treatment Study

Establishing Evidence-based Multicomponent Treatment for Speech and Language in Primary Progressive Aphasia

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a speech-language telerehabilitation helps improve communication in people with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a form of dementia that affects speech and language. The study will also document how acceptable and helpful the program is for both patients and their care partners.

The main questions the study aims to answer are:

1. Is the telerehabilitation program feasible and acceptable for people with PPA and their care partners?
2. Do participants with PPA and care partners report satisfaction with the program?
3. Which outcome measures are most useful for evaluating changes in communication and quality of life?
4. What patterns of treatment response are seen in participants after completing the program?

Researchers will test the program in a small group of participants to see how people respond. The program includes both speech-language therapy and training for care partners.

Participants will:

• Take part in online speech-language therapy sessions
• Complete communication tasks and questionnaires before and after the program
• Have regular virtual check-ins with the research team
• Include their care partners in some parts of the program for training and support

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: Primary Progressive Aphasia; Aphasia; Semantic Dementia; Logopenic Progressive Aphasia; Semantic Memory Disorder; Nonfluent Aphasia, Progressive; Aphasia, Progressive
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Multicomponent Lexical Retrieval Training (Multi-LRT); Behavioral: Multicomponent Video Implemented Script Training in Aphasia (Multi-VISTA); Behavioral: Multicomponent Communication Partner Training (Multi-CPT)

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 21
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Austin, Texas, United States, 78712
      • University of Texas

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Meets diagnostic criteria for Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA; Gorno-Tempini et al., 2011)
• Scores of 10 or higher on the Mini-Mental State Examination
• Has a study partner who can consistently attend sessions

Exclusion Criteria:

• Other neurological or psychiatric diagnosis that may contribute to cognitive-linguistic deficits
• Significant, uncorrected visual or hearing impairment that would interfere with participation
• Score of less than 10 on the Mini-Mental State Examination
• Prominent initial non-speech-language impairment (cognitive, behavioral, motoric)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Multicomponent Lexical Retrieval Training (Multi-LRT)	Behavioral: Multicomponent Lexical Retrieval Training (Multi-LRT); In person or via teletherapy: A multi-component treatment incorporating elements of restitutive, compensatory, and care-partner focused interventions. Participants work on producing names of personally relevant target in multiple communication modalities. Treatment focuses on the use of strategies which capitalize on residual linguistic ability and autobiographical memory to support word retrieval. The participant completes two one-hour-long sessions per week plus daily homework. The participant also meets 4 times during the course of treatment with a study partner (e.g., spouse) for communication counseling, education, and practice of communication strategies.
Experimental: Multicomponent Video Implemented Script Training in Aphasia (Multi-VISTA)	Behavioral: Multicomponent Video Implemented Script Training in Aphasia (Multi-VISTA); In person or via teletherapy: A multi-component treatment incorporating elements of restitutive, compensatory, and care-partner focused interventions. Participants work on producing personally relevant scripts of 3-5 sentences in length. Length and complexity of scripts are individually tailored. The participant completes 30 minutes per day of home practice, during which they speak in unison with a video/audio model of a healthy speaker clearly articulating the scripts. Biweekly (one hour each) sessions with a clinician are held which target clear and accurate script production, script memorization, and conversational usage of the script and multimodal communication. The participant also meets 6 times during the course of treatment with a study partner (e.g., spouse) for communication counseling, education, and practice of communication strategies.
Experimental: Experimental: Multicomponent Communicaiton Partner Training (Multi-CPT)	Behavioral: Multicomponent Communication Partner Training (Multi-CPT); In person or via teletherapy: A multi-component treatment incorporating elements of compensatory and care-partner focused interventions. Biweekly (one hour each) sessions with a clinician are held which target use of communication strategies including multimodal communication for the participant and study partner (e.g., spouse). The participant also completes regular assignments meant to increase generalization of communication strategies and progress on personal goals.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in script production accuracy	Percent correct intelligible, scripted words for trained/untrained scripts	change from pre-treatment to post-treatment (approximately 6-12 weeks after treatment onset) and follow-ups at 3 months post-treatment
Change in spoken naming of trained/untrained items	Percent correctly named trained/untrained pictures	change from pre-treatment to post-treatment (approximately 6-12 weeks after treatment onset) and follow-ups at 3 months post-treatment
Information communicated in any modality for trained/untrained stimuli	Percent of major content units (key words) communicated via speech or nonspeech modalities (e.g., writing, drawing, gesture) for trained/untrained scripts (Multi-VISTA) or words (Multi-LRT) during structured probes and in conversation	change from pre-treatment to post-treatment (approximately 6-12 weeks after treatment onset) and follow-ups at 3 months post-treatment
Goal Attainment Score	The Goal Attainment Score is self-reported progress on personalized goals based on a five point scale.	change from pre-treatment to post-treatment (approximately 6-12 weeks after treatment onset) and follow-ups at 3 months post-treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change on Quick Aphasia Battery	change on standardized aphasia assessment	change from pre-treatment to post-treatment (approximately 6-12 weeks after treatment onset) and follow-ups at 3 months post-treatment
Change on Aphasia Impact Questionnaire	change on psychosocial questionnaire for individuals with aphasia	change from pre-treatment to post-treatment (approximately 6-12 weeks after treatment onset) and follow-ups at 3 months post-treatment

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Post-treatment Communication Survey	survey characterizing perceived response to treatment	post-treatment (approximately 6-12 weeks after treatment onset)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin
• Collaborators: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Maya L Henry, PhD, University of Texas - Austin

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 2, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 16, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 16, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): October 18, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): October 8, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 5, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Neurodegenerative Disease; Logopenic; Speech-Language Pathology; Augmentative and Alternative Communication; Semantic; Nonfluent; Speech Entrainment; Telethearpy; Multimodal Communication Training; Partner Training; Script training
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders; Metabolic Diseases; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurocognitive Disorders; Dementia; TDP-43 Proteinopathies; Proteostasis Deficiencies; Communication Disorders; Language Disorders; Speech Disorders; Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Aphasia; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Frontotemporal Dementia; Aphasia, Primary Progressive; Memory Disorders; Primary Progressive Nonfluent Aphasia
• Other Study ID Numbers: R56DC016291 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No