Melodic Intonation Therapy for Tone Language Speakers

NCT04221386 | Suspended

• 1 other identifier: IZZKJ
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

One of the traditional therapies for restoring the ability of speech in aphasic patients is Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT), in which everyday phrases are taught in a singing-like manner. The suggested mechanism for speech recovery is that because of the sharing of brain resources for language and music, the regions normally reserved for singing can be trained to help compensate the speech functions originally subserved by the damaged regions. However, this therapy has primarily been applied to speakers of non-tone languages, in which prosodic features carry a more important role than pitch features in conveying meanings. It remains unknown whether MIT will be equally applicable for speakers of tone languages, in which pitch features likely play a more important role. Another uncertainty concerns whether the efficacy of MIT can be extended to patients with expressive speech impairment due to dementia. This pilot study aims to find out the efficacy of MIT for speech-impaired dementia patients in different verbal tasks. The results of this study will provide preliminary empirical evidence to establish the utility of MIT for Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong.

Conditions

Dementia; Speech Therapy

Keywords

Melodic Intonation Therapy; Music; Tone language

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Aphasia Quotient (AQ) in Cantonese Aphasia Battery

  Two subtests of the Cantonese Aphasia Battery (auditory comprehension \& spontaneous speech) will be executed. Higher AQ means better performance in the respective areas. The minimum of AQ in each subtest is 0, and the maximum is 20.

  within a week after procedure

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Change in latency and accuracy in picture naming task

  within a week after procedure

• Change in performance of semantic fluency task

  within a week after procedure

Study Arms (2)

MIT group

EXPERIMENTAL

Subjects will receive the developed Melodic Intonation Therapy.

Behavioral: Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT)

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

Subjects will not receive any intervention.

Interventions

Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) BEHAVIORAL

Subjects will receive at least 6 MIT sessions in group of 3-5 subjects. In the sessions, experimenter will sing songs with the subjects. Songs used in the intervention are familiar to elderly and are rewritten and embedded with everyday phrases and vocabularies. The whole intervention will span 3-4 weeks.

MIT group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 50 Years - 100 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Early to moderate stage dementia patient
• Normal hearing (hearing aid accepted)
• Non-fluent speech (max. score of fluency in Cantonese Aphasia Battery spontaneous speech subtest = 6/10)

You may not qualify if:

• Non-native Cantonese speaker
• Illiterate
• Aphasic patients
• Subjects who receive other speech therapy during study

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Elderly homes

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Albert ML, Sparks RW, Helm NA. Melodic intonation therapy for aphasia. Arch Neurol. 1973 Aug;29(2):130-1. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1973.00490260074018. No abstract available.

  PMID: 4717723 BACKGROUND

• Sparks R, Helm N, Albert M. Aphasia rehabilitation resulting from melodic intonation therapy. Cortex. 1974 Dec;10(4):303-16. doi: 10.1016/s0010-9452(74)80024-9. No abstract available.

  PMID: 4452250 BACKGROUND

• Sarkamo T, Sihvonen AJ. Golden oldies and silver brains: Deficits, preservation, learning, and rehabilitation effects of music in ageing-related neurological disorders. Cortex. 2018 Dec;109:104-123. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.034. Epub 2018 Sep 19.

  PMID: 30312779 RESULT

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Dementia; Communication Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neurocognitive Disorders; Mental Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Study Officials

• William Shi Yuan Wang, Ph.D.

  The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 3, 2020
• First Posted: January 9, 2020
• Study Start: August 1, 2020
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2020
• Study Completion: February 28, 2021
• Last Updated: April 10, 2020

Record last verified: 2019-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)