Auditory Masking Effects on Speech Fluency in Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech
| Status: | Completed |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Neurology |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Neurology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 18 - Any |
| Updated: | 4/2/2016 |
| Start Date: | March 2014 |
| End Date: | December 2015 |
| Contact: | Adam Jacks, Ph.D. |
| Email: | adam_jacks@med.unc.edu |
| Phone: | 9199669464 |
Impaired speech production is a major obstacle to full participation in life roles by stroke
survivors with aphasia and apraxia of speech. The proposed study will demonstrate the
short-term effects of auditory masking on speech disfluencies and identify individual
factors that predict a positive response, enabling future work to develop auditory masking
as a treatment adjuvant targeting long-term improvement in speech. Providing an additional
treatment option for adults with aphasia and apraxia of speech will have the clear benefit
of improving quality of life and allowing individuals to participate more actively in their
health care decisions through improved communication.
survivors with aphasia and apraxia of speech. The proposed study will demonstrate the
short-term effects of auditory masking on speech disfluencies and identify individual
factors that predict a positive response, enabling future work to develop auditory masking
as a treatment adjuvant targeting long-term improvement in speech. Providing an additional
treatment option for adults with aphasia and apraxia of speech will have the clear benefit
of improving quality of life and allowing individuals to participate more actively in their
health care decisions through improved communication.
The objective of this research is to test the short-term effects of listening to noise (i.e.
auditory feedback masking) on speech fluency in stroke survivors with aphasia and apraxia of
speech. People with nonfluent types of aphasia frequently have apraxia of speech, which
affects the motor programming of speech movements, causing distortions, slow rate, and
speech disfluencies that impede the forward flow of communication. Speaking while listening
to noise (e.g. auditory masking) is known to reduce disfluencies and increase speech rate in
people who stutter. This method has been tested in people with aphasia, resulting in
positive effects on speech production for a subset of those tested. The investigators
contend that individuals who have apraxia of speech in addition to aphasia are most likely
to benefit from auditory masking, but most previous studies did not test participants for
apraxia of speech. In addition, though masking is most likely to affect speech disfluencies,
previous studies did not measures disfluencies. The proposed work has two specific aims. Aim
1 will determine the short-term effect of auditory masking, provided on a single day, on
speech fluency in stroke survivors with aphasia and apraxia of speech. Aim 2 will identify
individual factors that predict a positive response, including presence of apraxia of
speech, lesion characteristics, and type of aphasia (e.g. Broca's, Wernicke's). Voxel-based
lesion analysis techniques will be used to determine sites of lesion associated with
positive and negative response to auditory masking. Completion of this study will remove
barriers to studying auditory masking as a technique for clinical intervention, but also as
a research tool for behavioral neuroscientists probing the speech motor control system in
speakers with aphasia and apraxia of speech.
auditory feedback masking) on speech fluency in stroke survivors with aphasia and apraxia of
speech. People with nonfluent types of aphasia frequently have apraxia of speech, which
affects the motor programming of speech movements, causing distortions, slow rate, and
speech disfluencies that impede the forward flow of communication. Speaking while listening
to noise (e.g. auditory masking) is known to reduce disfluencies and increase speech rate in
people who stutter. This method has been tested in people with aphasia, resulting in
positive effects on speech production for a subset of those tested. The investigators
contend that individuals who have apraxia of speech in addition to aphasia are most likely
to benefit from auditory masking, but most previous studies did not test participants for
apraxia of speech. In addition, though masking is most likely to affect speech disfluencies,
previous studies did not measures disfluencies. The proposed work has two specific aims. Aim
1 will determine the short-term effect of auditory masking, provided on a single day, on
speech fluency in stroke survivors with aphasia and apraxia of speech. Aim 2 will identify
individual factors that predict a positive response, including presence of apraxia of
speech, lesion characteristics, and type of aphasia (e.g. Broca's, Wernicke's). Voxel-based
lesion analysis techniques will be used to determine sites of lesion associated with
positive and negative response to auditory masking. Completion of this study will remove
barriers to studying auditory masking as a technique for clinical intervention, but also as
a research tool for behavioral neuroscientists probing the speech motor control system in
speakers with aphasia and apraxia of speech.
Inclusion Criteria for Aphasic/Apraxic Participants:
- Single left-hemisphere cerebrovascular accident
- Speech errors are present, but participant is able to produce approximations of words
or sentences by reading or repetition; < 90% and > 10% on Chapel Hill Multilingual
Intelligibility Test (Haley, 2011)
- Right-handed prior to stroke by report
- Normal visual attention, acuity, and color vision
- Pure-tone threshold <= 40 decibels in at least one ear
Exclusion Criteria for Aphasic/Apraxic Participants:
- Predominating disorders of cognition or hearing (e.g. dementia, hearing impairment).
- Presence of degenerative neurological illness (e.g. Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, primary progressive aphasia).
Inclusion Criteria for Neurologically Healthy Participants:
- Matched in age and sex to a participant with aphasia
- score of 90% or higher on the single-word intelligibility test
- Right-handed prior to stroke by report
- Normal visual attention, acuity, and color vision
- Pure-tone threshold <= 40 decibels in at least one ear
Exclusion Criteria for Neurologically Healthy Participants:
- History of stroke
- History of developmental speech or language disorder
We found this trial at
1
site
333 South Columbia Street
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
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