Recruiting

Speech-Language Intervention

Sponsor:

Stephanie Grasso

Code:

NCT05741853

Conditions

Primary Progressive Aphasia

Dementia

Dementia, Frontotemporal

Alzheimer Disease

Neurodegenerative Diseases

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 40+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Video-Implemented Script Training for Aphasia (VISTA)

Lexical Retrieval Training (LRT)

Study Details

Brief summary:

Difficulties with speech and language are the first and most notable symptoms of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). While there is evidence that demonstrates positive effects of speech-language treatment for individuals with PPA who only speak one language (monolinguals), there is a significant need for investigating the effects of treatment that is optimized for bilingual speakers with PPA. This stage 2 efficacy clinical trial seeks to establish the effects of culturally and linguistically tailored speech-language interventions administered to bilingual individuals with PPA.

The overall aim of the intervention component of this study is to establish the relationships between the bilingual experience (e.g., how often each language is used, how "strong" each language is) and treatment response of bilinguals with PPA. Specifically, the investigators will evaluate the benefits of tailored speech-language intervention administered in both languages to bilingual individuals with PPA (60 individuals will be recruited). The investigators will conduct an assessment before treatment, after treatment and at two follow-ups (6 and 12-months post-treatment) in both languages. When possible, a structural scan of the brain (magnetic resonance image) will be collected before treatment in order to identify if brain regions implicated in bilingualism are associated with response to treatment. In addition to the intervention described herein, 30 bilingual individuals with PPA will be recruited to complete behavioral cognitive-linguistic testing and will not receive intervention. Results will provide important knowledge about the neural mechanisms of language re-learning and will address how specific characteristics of bilingualism influence cognitive reserve and linguistic resilience in PPA.

Conditions

Primary Progressive Aphasia

Dementia

Dementia, Frontotemporal

Alzheimer Disease

Neurodegenerative Diseases

Study ID

NCT05741853

Start date

May 1, 2023

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Nov 30, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Nov 30, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 40+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Meets diagnostic criteria for Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA; Gorno-Tempini et al., 2011)
  • Bilingual in Spanish and Catalan or bilingual in Spanish and English
  • Different proficiency levels across languages are expected, any prior experience in both languages is acceptable
  • Intervention study: Score of 15 or higher on the Mini-Mental State Examination
  • Note that this project will also recruit individuals to participate in assessment only, for these individuals the following inclusion criteria applies: Score of 10 or higher on the Mini-Mental State Examination

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Other central nervous system or medical diagnosis that can cause symptoms
  • Other psychiatric diagnosis that can cause symptoms
  • Significant, uncorrected visual or hearing impairment that would interfere with participation
  • Prominent initial non-speech-language impairments (cognitive, behavioral, motoric)
  • Intervention Study: Score of less than 15 on the Mini-Mental State Examination
  • Note that this project will also recruit individuals to participate in assessment only, for these individuals the following inclusion criteria applies: Score of less than 10 on the Mini-Mental State Examination

Study Design

Enrollment

60 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Non randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Lexical Retrieval Training

Naming intervention for individuals with logopenic or semantic variant PPA.

experimental: Video Implemented Script Training for Aphasia

Script training intervention for individuals with nonfluent/agrammatic PPA.

Interventions

Video-Implemented Script Training for Aphasia (VISTA)

Participants with nonfluent/agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia (PPA) or a predominantly nonfluent profile work on producing personally relevant scripts of 4-6 sentences in length. Length and complexity of scripts are individually tailored. The participant completes two (one hour each) teletherapy sessions per week with a clinician targeting clear and accurate script production, script memorization, and conversational usage of scripts. The participant completes 30 minutes of independent, computer-based practice 5-7 times per week, during which they speak in unison with a video/audio model of a healthy speaker clearly articulating the scripts.

Lexical Retrieval Training (LRT)

Participants with logopenic variant PPA, participants with semantic variant PPA, and participants with a predominantly anomic profile will work on producing spoken and written names of personally relevant target items using a self-cueing hierarchy. Treatment focuses on the use of strategies that capitalize on spared cognitive-linguistic abilities to support word retrieval. The participant completes two (one hour each) teletherapy sessions per week with a clinician plus 30 minutes of additional independent, computer-based practice exercises 5-7 times per week.

Primary outcome measure

  • Percent correct intelligible words from trained/untrained scripts [ Time Frame: Pre-phase 1, post-phase1/pre-phase 2 (4.5 weeks from treatment onset), post-phase 2 (9 weeks from treatment onset), 6 months and 1 year post-treatment ]
  • Percent correct spoken naming of trained/untrained nouns [ Time Frame: Pre-phase 1, post-phase1/pre-phase 2 (4.5 weeks from treatment onset), post-phase 2 (9 weeks from treatment onset), 6 months and 1 year post-treatment ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Camille Wagner Rodríguez, M.S., CCC-SLP

512-471-4119wagner.camille@austin.utexas.edu

Locations

University of Texas at Austin

Recruiting

Austin, Texas, United States, 78752

Contacts

Camille Wagner Rodríguez, M.S.

wagner.camille@austin.utexas.edu

Principal Investigator:

Stephanie M Grasso, Ph.D.

More Information

Sponsor

Stephanie Grasso

Last update posted

Jun 10, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Keywords

  • Dementia, ADRD
  • Bilingualism
  • Multilingualism
  • Primary Progressive Aphasia
  • Bilingual Primary Progressive Aphasia
  • Cognitive Reserve
  • Language Decline
  • Bilingual Language Decline
  • Speech-Language Therapy
  • Bilingual Speech-Language Therapy
  • Spanish speakers
  • Spanish-Catalan Bilinguals
  • Spanish-English Bilinguals
  • Hispanic
  • Catalán
  • Catalan
  • Spanish
  • Castellano
  • Speech Therapy
  • Latino
  • Cognition

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-10-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Stephanie Grasso on 2026-06-10. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.