Anomia, Aphasia, Cerebrovascular Accident, Traumatic Brain Injury
Conditions
Keywords
Anomia, Aphasia, Traumatic Brain Injury, Cerebrovascular Accident
Brief summary
Adults who sustain brain damage due to stroke, traumatic injury or surgery may develop difficulty finding words. This study compares the effectiveness of two behavior-based programs to improve picture naming ability in these individuals.
Detailed description
Difficulty finding words is common in patients with aphasia subsequent to left hemisphere stroke. This study will compare two cognitive therapies for the treatment of acquired word finding difficulties. The therapies use different types of cues. All participants will receive both therapies. Participants in this study will undergo a comprehensive and detailed assessment of language and other cognitive skills. The two treatments will be compared for their efficacy.
Interventions
PROCEDUREErrorful training condition
Errorful training condition: Participant saw a picture and named it without any cues. If an error was produced, the cue with the least amount of information was provided (e.g. for pumpkin, pu). Cues with increasing information were provided until the picture was correctly named (e.g. for pumpkin: pump, pumpki, then pumpkin). Once the correct name was provided, the trial ended.
PROCEDUREErrorless training condition
Errorless learning (EL) condition: Participant saw a picture with its name, and repeated the word. The participant continued to name the picture as the auditory cues provided less and less of the word (e.g. for banana she would hear banan, bana then ba and finally no cue). If an error was produced at any stage, the whole word was presented, the participant repeated it, and the trial ended.
Sponsors
Georgetown University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Word finding difficulty subsequent to stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain surgery or other brain damage occuring at least 6 month prior to participation * Ability to attend 2 sessions per week for several months at Georgetown University in Washington, DC
Exclusion criteria
* History of learning disabilities * Best corrected vision less than 20/40 * Corrected hearing within functional limits * Less than 10 years formal education * Significant memory or comprehension problems
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Improved picture naming of trained words. | Following conclusion of word treatment. | Overall accuracy of named trained items |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Improved picture naming of trained words. | At 6 months after conclusion of word treatment | Overall accuracy of named trained items |
| Improved picture naming of untrained words. | Following conclusion of word treatment. | Overall accuracy of named untrained items |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed