NCT00957710

Language Treatment for Progressive Aphasia

Slowing Language Decline in Progressive Aphasia Through Language Rehabilitation: Treatment and Neuroimaging Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 7 (actual)
• Sponsor: Baycrest · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

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.

Conditions

• Primary Progressive Aphasia
• Nonfluent Progressive Aphasia
• Semantic Dementia

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Errorless learning	Language testing,20 sessions of language therapy, and 2 neuroimaging sessions for participants with progressive aphasia Language testing and 1 imaging session for healthy controls

Timeline

• Start date: 2009-08-01
• Primary completion: 2010-07-01
• Completion: 2010-12-01
• First posted: 2009-08-12
• Last updated: 2015-01-27

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada