Clinical trial NCT00125242: Word-Retrieval Treatment for Aphasia: Semantic Feature Analysis
Official title: Word-Retrieval for Aphasia: Facilitation of Generalization
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Aphasia
Language Disorders
Speech Disorders
Keywords: Aphasia
Language therapy
Rehabilitation of speech and language disorders
Speech-language pathology
Lead sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
Sponsor class: FED
First posted: 2005-07-29
Enrollment: 110
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 21
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this investigation is to further develop and test a treatment for word-finding problems in aphasia. The treatment is designed to strengthen meaning associations within categories of words (e.g., animals, tools, fruits). The treatment is also designed to be used as a search strategy in instances of word-finding difficulty. The study was devised to evaluate the extent to which treatment increases the ability to recall trained, as well as untrained, words.

Detailed description: The purpose of the proposed research is to examine the effects of a semantically-oriented treatment on word retrieval in persons with aphasia. The planned investigations are designed to further the development of semantic feature training so that it may serve as not only a mechanism for improving disrupted lexical semantic processing, but also as a compensatory strategy during word retrieval failures. The proposed research will also address the issue of exemplar typicality (Kiran \& Thompson, 2003) by examining the effects of training typical versus atypical exemplars of various categories with individuals with different types of aphasia. A series of 24 single subject experimental designs will be conducted in the context of a group design to address the following experimental questions:

* Will training atypical examples of living and artifact noun categories using semantic feature training result in a significantly different outcome\* than training typical examples of living and artifact noun categories?
* Will training of one category of nouns using semantic feature training result in improved retrieval of untrained categories of nouns?
* Will effects of semantic feature training vary across aphasia types?
* Will semantic feature training result in increased production of content during discourse?
* Will generalization to untrained typical examples vary across generalization lists that are repeatedly exposed and those that are limited in exposure? (i.e., Does repeated exposure appear to contribute to generalization?)

  * Outcome measure will reflect acquisition, response generalization within category, and response generalization across category effects of treatment.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of Wernicke's, Broca's, or Conduction aphasia with significant word-retrieval deficits
* At least 6 months post-onset of single, left-hemisphere stroke
* Minimum of high-school education
* Visual and auditory acuity sufficient for experimental tasks
* Nonverbal intelligence within normal limits

Exclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosed mental illness other than depression
* Neurological condition other than that which resulted in aphasia
* History of alcohol or substance abuse
* Non-native English speaker
* Premorbid history of speech/language disorder

Primary outcomes:
measure: Word Retrieval Accuracy
timeFrame: End of treatment and at 6 weeks post treatment
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Salt Lake City
country: United States
facility: VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City
state: Utah
Study officials:
affiliation: VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City
name: Julie L. Wambaugh, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Wambaugh JL, Mauszycki S, Cameron R, Wright S, Nessler C. Semantic feature analysis: incorporating typicality treatment and mediating strategy training to promote generalization. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2013 May;22(2):S334-69. doi: 10.1044/1058-0360(2013/12-0070).
citation: Wambaugh JL, Mauszycki S, Wright S. Semantic feature analysis: Application to confrontation naming of actions in aphasia. Aphasiology. 2013 Oct 28; 28(1):DOI:10.1080/02687038.2013.845739.