Recruiting
Phase 2

Naming Treatment

Sponsor:

University of Pittsburgh

Code:

NCT05653440

Conditions

Aphasia

Stroke

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Accuracy-maximized condition

Effort-maximized condition

Effort-accuracy balanced condition

Study Details

Brief summary:

Aphasia is a language disorder caused by stroke and other acquired brain injuries that affects over two million people in the United States and which interferes with life participation and quality of life. Anomia (i.e., word- finding difficulty) is a primary frustration for people with aphasia. Picture-based naming treatments for anomia are widely used in aphasia rehabilitation, but current treatment approaches do not address the long-term retention of naming abilities and do not focus on using these naming abilities in daily life. The current research aims to evaluate novel anomia treatment approaches to improve long-term retention and generalization to everyday life.

This study is one of two that are part of a larger grant. This record is for sub-study 1, which will adaptively balance effort and accuracy using speeded naming deadlines.

Conditions

Aphasia

Stroke

Study ID

NCT05653440

Start date

Nov 27, 2023

Status verified date

Dec, 2025

Completion date

Jan 31, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jan 31, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Existing diagnosis of chronic (>6 months) aphasia subsequent to left hemisphere ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke.
  • Impaired performance on 2/8 sections of the Comprehensive Aphasia Test.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of other acquired or progressive neurological disease.
  • Significant language comprehension impairments
  • Unmanaged drug / alcohol dependence.
  • Severe diagnosed mood or behavioral disorders that require specialize mental health interventions.

Study Design

Enrollment

30 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Effort-maximized, then accuracy-maximized, then effort-accuracy balanced

All participants will receive all three naming treatment conditions in a randomized order - this is one possible ordering of those conditions.

experimental: Effort-maximized, then effort-accuracy balanced, then accuracy-maximized

All participants will receive all three naming treatment conditions in a randomized order - this is one possible ordering of those conditions.

experimental: Accuracy-maximized, then effort-maximized, then effort-accuracy balanced

All participants will receive all three naming treatment conditions in a randomized order - this is one possible ordering of those conditions.

experimental: Accuracy-maximized, then effort-accuracy balanced, then effort-maximized

All participants will receive all three naming treatment conditions in a randomized order - this is one possible ordering of those conditions.

experimental: Effort-accuracy balanced, then effort-maximized, then accuracy maximized

All participants will receive all three naming treatment conditions in a randomized order - this is one possible ordering of those conditions.

experimental: Effort-accuracy balanced, then accuracy-maximized, then effort-maximized

All participants will receive all three naming treatment conditions in a randomized order - this is one possible ordering of those conditions.

Interventions

Accuracy-maximized condition

Naming treatment condition in which the target will be immediately provided for repetition at picture onset.

Effort-maximized condition

Naming treatment condition in which participants will have up to 10 seconds to respond before the target is provided for repetition.

Effort-accuracy balanced condition

Naming treatment condition in which naming deadlines will be determined based on the balanced effort-to-accuracy benefit ratio formalized above, calculated on clinician-provided accuracy and response time ratings. Deadlines will be recalculated session-by-session to adjust to participant-specific treatment gains over time.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in correct responses in Confrontation Naming of Treated Pictured Objects [ Time Frame: Initial assessment (pre-treatment), 3 months post-treatment ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Alyssa Kelly, M.A., CCC-SLP

412-648-3274ank155@pitt.edu

Locations

Language Rehab and Cognition Lab, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh

Recruiting

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15260

Contacts

William Evans, PhD

412-383-6943will.evans@pitt.edu

Principal Investigator:

William Evans, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

University of Pittsburgh

Last update posted

Apr 13, 2026

Last verified

Dec, 2025

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Pittsburgh on 2026-04-13.