Investigating the Effects of Rhythm and Entrainment on Fluency in People With Aphasia

NCT05248295 | Completed Results

• 2 other identifiers: 2018P001160R15DC019231
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 75
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Speaking in unison with another person is included as a part of many treatment approaches for aphasia. It is not well understood why and how this technique works. One goal of this study is to determine who benefits from speaking in unison, and what characteristics of speech are most helpful. Another goal is to investigate a possible mechanism for this benefit: why does speaking in unison help? A possible mechanism for this benefit is examined, by testing whether the degree of alignment of a person's speech with that of another speaker can account for unison benefit.

Conditions

Aphasia; Apraxia of Speech

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Percent Syllables Correct

  The percentage of syllables correctly repeated from the target sentences will be computed for each contrast, Unison vs. Solo and Metrical vs. Conversational, capturing all 4 conditions in the 2x2 design (Unison Metrical, Unison Conversational, Solo Metrical, Solo Conversational). A protocol will be used to score syllables for correctness.

  1 day study visit

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Mean Syllable Offset From Model

  1 day study visit

Study Arms (2)

People with aphasia

EXPERIMENTAL

Adults with stroke-based aphasia. Designating this group as experimental reflects the focus on studying responses in people with aphasia. All participants will complete the same 4 study conditions in a 2x2 design (Unison vs. Solo and Metrical vs. Conversational).

Behavioral: Unison speech (vs. solo); Behavioral: Metrical timing (vs. conversational)

Healthy controls

OTHER

Adults without a history of speech, language, or neurological disorder, or stroke. This group is intended to serve as a context-providing reference group rather than a true comparator. All participants will complete the same 4 study conditions in a 2x2 design (Unison vs. Solo and Metrical vs. Conversational).

Behavioral: Unison speech (vs. solo); Behavioral: Metrical timing (vs. conversational)

Interventions

Unison speech (vs. solo) BEHAVIORAL

Participants will repeat sentences in four conditions, in a 2x2 design with the factors unison vs. solo repetition, and metrical vs. conversational speech timing. Measures of speech accuracy and timing will be collected.

Healthy controls; People with aphasia

Metrical timing (vs. conversational) BEHAVIORAL

This is the secondary contrast in the 2x2 design described above.

Healthy controls; People with aphasia

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 80 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Native-speaker fluency in American English (prior to stroke for people with aphasia)
• Controls must report no history of speech, language, neurological disorders, or stroke
• People with aphasia must be at least 6-months post-stroke, and aphasia must be due to stroke

You may not qualify if:

• Inadequate hearing ability to reliably complete task: fail hearing screen
• Inadequate cognitive ability to understand and remember task: fail cognition screening (different measures for controls and people with aphasia)
• Inadequate speech repetition ability to complete task, or to be considered a control: fail speech repetition screening (different thresholds for controls and people with aphasia)
• Inadequate auditory comprehension ability to understand task: fail auditory comprehension screen (people with aphasia only)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• MGH Institute of Health Professions: lead
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

MGH IHP

Boston, Massachusetts, 02129, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Aphasia; Apraxias

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Speech Disorders; Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Psychomotor Disorders

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Lauryn Zipse
• Organization: MGH IHP

lzipse@mghihp.edu

6176433245

Study Officials

• Lauryn Zipse, PhD

  MGH IHP

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 4, 2022
• First Posted: February 21, 2022
• Study Start: December 4, 2018
• Primary Completion: June 28, 2023
• Study Completion: June 28, 2023
• Last Updated: May 18, 2025
• Results First Posted: May 18, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)