Dyslexia
Conditions
Keywords
artificial grammar learning, dyslexia, healthy subjects, levodopa, drug, treatment, intervention
Brief summary
This study aims to determine whether levodopa, in combination with a high frequency training of (grammatical) rules, is effective in boosting learning success in healthy subjects and whether this kind of training in combination with levodopa improves reading and spelling abilities of patients with dyslexia.
Detailed description
Prior work by our group shows that d-amphetamine and the dopamine precursor levodopa markedly improve word learning success in healthy subjects. In this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial, we probe whether daily administration of levodopa, coupled with a training of grammatical rules, improves the training success in healthy adults as compared to placebo administration. In the second step of this study, patients with dyslexia will be trained with the identical protocol. We postulate that the combination of intensive training in language rules and levodopa improves the reading, writing, and spelling abilities of patients with dyslexia.
Interventions
DRUGLevodopa
Sponsors
University Hospital Muenster
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
MALE
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Right-handedness * Age between 18-35 years * Primary language: German
Exclusion criteria
* Known allergy to levodopa or tetrazine * History of medication/drug abuse * Acute nicotine withdrawal or \> 10 cigarettes per day * \>6 cups/glasses of coffee, caffeine drinks or energy drinks per day * \>50 grams of alcohol per day * Hypertonia * Arteriosclerosis * Diabetes, asthma, or glaucoma * Psychiatric disease * Neurologic disease * Other medication
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Boost in training success (percent correct) through levodopa as compared to placebo | — |
| Boost in training success (reaction times) through levodopa as compared to placebo | — |
| Increased performance on reading, spelling and writing tests in dyslexic patients treated with levodopa as compared to placebo | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Stability of improvements one month post training | — |
Countries
Germany
Contacts
Primary ContactStefan Knecht, MD
Outcome results
None listed