Speech-Language Treatment Effects in Bilingual Adults With Primary Progressive Aphasia

What this Trial Is About

Primary progressive aphasia PPA causes difficulties with speech and language, and this trial focuses on bilingual individuals with PPA. Researchers are studying the effects of speech-language treatments tailored specifically for bilingual speakers, aiming to understand how bilingual experience influences treatment response. This stage 2 efficacy trial also investigates neural mechanisms of language relearning and cognitive resilience in PPA, recruiting both intervention and assessment-only bilingual participants. The study includes two types of speech-language interventions based on PPA variants a naming intervention for logopenic or semantic variant PPA and a script training intervention for nonfluentagrammatic PPA. Participants receive teletherapy sessions twice a week plus independent computer-based practice multiple times per week. Assessments occur before treatment, after treatment, and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. When possible, brain scans will be collected before treatment to explore brain regions linked to bilingualism and treatment response. Participants will complete speech and language evaluations in both languages at different timepoints, including measures of intelligible words, naming accuracy, and connected speech features. Questionnaires and acoustic features are also assessed before and after treatment. The study monitors participants over a year to evaluate treatment outcomes and linguistic resilience. Some participants will only complete behavioral testing without intervention. Total involvement spans initial assessment, treatment phases, and follow-up evaluations.

Cognitive Reserve and Response to Speech-Language Intervention in Bilingual Speakers With Primary Progressive Aphasia