Stuttering, Adult
Conditions
Keywords
Stuttering, Aripiprazole, Adults with Stuttering, Speech Fluency, Auditory Feedback
Brief summary
This study is being done to understand the effect of aripiprazole on adults who stutter. Stuttering is a disorder that affects speech fluency. This study aims to understand sensorimotor pathways of stuttering and possible interventions.
Detailed description
Stuttering is a disorder of speech fluency that affects 3.5 million people in the USA alone. The goal of this project is to assess whether fluency ehnancement with auditory feedback manipulations or with pharmacological agents that regulate dopamine uptake improve the sensorimotor functions of speech feedback prediction and processing in stuttering. This study may lay the foundation for stuttering treatments that combine dopamine regulators and behavioral treatments. Aripiprazole is an FDA-approved anti-psychotic typically used for treatment of schizophrenia or acute manic episodes. A typical dose is 10-15 mg per day, given daily for treatment. In this study, one 10 mg dose will be given. The usage in this study is purely investigational (experimental) and not FDA approved.
Interventions
The effects of aripiprazole on stuttering and various behavioral and neural outcomes will be studied compared to placebo.
DRUGPlacebo
Placebo will be compared against aripiprazole for effect on stuttering and various behavioral and neural markers.
Sponsors
University of California, San Francisco
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
University of Washington
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* native speakers of American English * for adults who stutter, presence of stuttering will be confirmed, with onset before age 6 years * Normal hearing * Ages of 18 to 65 years * healthy adults without hearing-language difficulties
Exclusion criteria
* self-reported speech-language-hearing difficulties other than stuttering * self-reported neurological or psychological problems * other medications (drugs that affect dopaminergic system and/or benzodiazepines)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-speech auditory modulation | 3-4 hours after intervention dose is delivered | Pre-speech auditory modulation (PSAM) is a measure of auditory cortical activity (as collect via magnetoencephalography) in response to a speaking and and matching silent reading task. |
| Speaking Induced Suppression (SIS) | 3-4 hours after intervention | SIS is a phenomenon measured through magnetoencephalography that is a marker of auditory cortical response to self-produced speech compared with playback of the same speech. |
| Centering | 3-4 hours after intervention | This is a speech behavior associated with SIS involving a reduction of speech variability from speech onset to mid-utterances. This is derived from auditory recordings occurring during magnetoencephalography collection. |
| Feedback alterations | 3-4 hours after intervention | This is a measure of fluency enhancement by altered speech feedback (manipulated by methods such as masking noise, frequency shifted feedback,. etc.) This is measured through audio recordings and brain activation patterns during magnetoencephalography. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTNatalie Brunwin, MS
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORJohn Houde, PhD
University of California, San Francisco
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORSrikantan Nagarajan, PhD
University of California, San Francisco
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORLudo Max, PhD
University of Washington
Outcome results
None listed