Language Treatment for Progressive Aphasia

Primary Progressive Aphasia Clinical Trial

Official title:

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

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00957710
• Other study ID #: REB 09-24
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: August 11, 2009
• Last updated: January 26, 2015
• Start date: August 2009
• Est. completion date: December 2010

Study information

• Verified date: January 2015
• Source: Baycrest
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Canada: Canadian Institutes of Health ResearchCanada: Ethics Review Committee
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial 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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 7
• Est. completion date: December 2010
• Est. primary completion date: July 2010
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 40 Years to 80 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of progressive aphasia

• Native English speaker or fluent in English

• Adequate hearing and vision (not requiring more than +6 diopter correction)

• Willing and able to participate in each phase of the study (including two fMRI sessions)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Contraindications to fMRI (e.g., claustrophobia, pacemaker, ferromagnetic implant)

• Current medical or psychiatric condition affecting cognition (other than progressive aphasia)

Study Design

Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Open Label

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Aphasia
• Aphasia, Primary Progressive
• Frontotemporal Dementia
• Nonfluent Progressive Aphasia
• Pick Disease of the Brain
• Primary Progressive Aphasia
• Semantic Dementia

Intervention

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

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Canada	Baycrest	Toronto	Ontario

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Baycrest	Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Canada, 

References & Publications (4)

Jokel R, Cupit J, Rochon E, Leonard C. Relearning lost vocabulary in nonfluent progressive aphasia with Mosstalk Words. Aphasiology 23(2): 175-191, 2009

Jokel R, Rochon E, Anderson ND. Errorless learning of computer-generated words in a patient with semantic dementia. Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2010 Jan;20(1):16-41. doi: 10.1080/09602010902879859. Epub . — View Citation

Jokel R, Rochon E, Leonard C. Therapy for anomia in semantic dementia. Brain Cogn. 2002 Jul;49(2):241-4. — View Citation

Jokel R, Rochon E, Leonard C. Treating anomia in semantic dementia: improvement, maintenance, or both? Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2006 Jun;16(3):241-56. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Accuracy of picture naming		3 months	No
Secondary	Changes on neuroimaging		3 months	No