Speech Disorder

Researchers are studying patients who have had an acute ischemic stroke affecting the basal ganglia and were treated with mechanical thrombectomy. The study aims to understand how often and in what ways cognitive, motor, and sleep problems occur after this treatment. The main focus is on defining these possible dysfunctions in the short and long term after stroke treatment. The study involves patients who have undergone mechanical thrombectomy for stroke in the proximal middle cerebral artery. Participants will be evaluated using tests for cognitive function, movement abilities, and sleep disorders. Specifically, sleep will be studied through polysomnographic examinations. Assessments occur in the acute phase soon after treatment and continue through long-term follow-up. Participants will undergo testing for cognitive, motor, and sleep function within 72 hours after their stroke treatment and at later points to monitor changes over time. The primary outcome is the presence of post-stroke cognitive dysfunction measured shortly after treatment. The research team will closely observe clinical outcomes related to movement and sleep as well. The study is sponsored by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS and involves adult participants starting from age 18.

Researchers are studying changes in the shape of the palate in growing children with different vertical facial growth patterns who have a posterior cross-bite. The study focuses on patients with mixed dentition, skeletal Class I relationship, and who are in the prepubertal stage. The goal is to understand how rapid palatal expander treatment affects the palate morphology among hyperdivergent, hypodivergent, and normodivergent facial types. The treatment involves using a rapid palatal expander device for about 6 months. Patients will be grouped based on their facial divergence patterns. Digital dental casts will be recorded before and after the treatment using an intraoral scanner. Researchers will perform linear measurements and a comprehensive study of the palate shape using a set of 240 landmarks and semi-landmarks. Geometric Morphometric Analysis (GMA) will compare the palate shape changes among the different groups. Participants will undergo clinical evaluations and have pre-treatment and post-treatment digital records including oral scans and photographs. The primary outcome is to measure morphological changes of the palate after 6 months. Secondary outcomes include detailed shape analysis of the palatal vault among the different facial types. The study requires good quality records and informed consent from participants, with total participation lasting around 6 months.

Researchers are exploring and comparing how patients perceive sounds after receiving either cochlear implants or gene therapy for congenital deafness. This study aims to understand differences in speech perception in various environments, music appreciation, and directional hearing between these two treatments. By assessing cognitive and psychological factors alongside auditory development, the study hopes to inform better rehabilitation plans for gene therapy patients. The study includes two groups of congenital deafness patients: those who have cochlear implants and those who have undergone gene therapy for autosomal recessive deafness 9 (DFNB9). Patients receive standard postoperative care and follow-up. The evaluation covers multiple aspects such as speech perception in quiet and noisy settings, cognitive function, psychological status, and auditory cortex growth over time. Participants will be assessed before treatment and at weeks 13, 26, and 52 after intervention. Evaluations include tests of auditory speech perception, cognitive abilities, psychological health, and brain development related to hearing. The study requires participants and their guardians to provide informed consent and cooperate with follow-up visits. Healthy individuals with normal hearing are also included as controls. The goal is to compare outcomes between the two treatments over one year.

Researchers are exploring how difficulties with learning sequences of sounds and grammar are connected in children with developmental language disorder (DLD), also called specific language impairment. This study focuses on three types of language patterns—Single Feature, OR/Disjunction, and Family Resemblance/Prototype—and investigates how children with DLD, speech sound disorder (SSD), and typical development respond to these patterns. The goal is to better understand the underlying causes of DLD and improve early diagnosis and treatment options. The study also considers whether adding meaning cues can help children learn language patterns more effectively. The study involves children aged 4 to 8 who will be randomly assigned to different groups to test sensitivity to these phonological patterns and the effect of semantic category cues. Participants will practice naming new words that match or do not match these patterns while researchers measure how accurately and consistently they produce sounds. Groups include children with DLD (with or without SSD), children with SSD alone, and typically developing children. The study also evaluates whether semantic cues improve learning of challenging patterns. Children will complete extensive testing including language assessments, hearing and oral structure checks, and autism screening to confirm eligibility. During sessions, researchers will measure speech accuracy, variability in articulation and acoustics, and response to semantic cues. These measures help track how well children learn and generalize language patterns. The study lasts about 30 minutes per assessment and aims to provide insights that support new intervention strategies for children with DLD and related speech disorders.

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a condition caused by various neurodegenerative disorders that mainly affect language abilities. Care for PPA patients is currently limited due to a shortage of specialists and lack of coordinated services. Researchers are evaluating a new treatment approach that combines personalized brain stimulation with language therapy to improve care in early-stage PPA. The study involves 60 patients with mild PPA who will be randomly assigned to receive either active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex combined with individualized language training, or placebo tDCS combined with the same language training. Treatments consist of 25-minute sessions, five days a week for two weeks. Neuroimaging and biomolecular data will be collected before and after treatment to explore how tDCS may affect the brain. Participants will undergo cognitive and language testing, neurological exams, and brain scans at the start, after treatment, and three months later. Trained neuropsychologists will conduct assessments to measure changes in naming ability, language function, quality of life, dementia severity, behavior, and molecular biomarkers. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of combining tDCS with language therapy for improving symptoms in PPA over time.

Researchers are investigating the use of Clemastine Fumarate combined with engineered sound to treat age-related central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), a condition affecting many people over 40 and causing difficulty hearing in noisy environments. This trial aims to test if the therapy, called Localized Oligodendrocyte Optimization Therapy (LOOT), which showed promise in animal studies, can improve hearing in noise for humans. The study is designed to compare the effectiveness of the drug with or without engineered sound in a controlled, randomized setting. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of four groups: Clemastine Fumarate with engineered sound, Clemastine Fumarate with placebo sound (white or pink noise), placebo drug with engineered sound, or placebo drug with placebo sound. The drug dosage is carefully controlled and given orally over 30 days, while participants listen to the assigned sound stimulation through headphones for one hour daily. The trial includes an adaptive design allowing adjustment of study arms based on interim results. Throughout the study, participants will undergo hearing tests to measure their ability to hear in noisy environments, both before and after treatment. Additional assessments include questionnaires on speech and tinnitus, auditory brainstem response tests, physical exams, blood tests, and EKGs to monitor health and safety. The treatment period lasts one month, with evaluations scheduled around weeks five or six. Safety and hearing improvements are carefully monitored to assess the therapy's impact.

This observational study focuses on adults who have acquired brain injury (ABI) and aims to describe how their speech and breathing patterns change, especially relating to dysarthria, a speech disorder. Researchers want to understand what voice and breathing changes occur in people with dysarthria after ABI and whether combining different speech and respiratory tests can help identify the severity and type of dysarthria. Participants undergo a set of evaluations in a controlled clinical setting. These include recording speech sounds to measure voice features like pitch and clarity, performing breathing tests with a spirometer to assess lung function, and completing the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment-2 (FDA-2) adapted for Spanish, to classify dysarthria type and severity. All assessments happen during a baseline evaluation period without any treatment or follow-up. During the study, participants will have their speech and breathing measured using standardized methods to ensure consistent and reliable results. Researchers will analyze these data to explore links between speech and respiratory function and dysarthria severity. The study plans to include about 97 to 101 adults and aims to help speech therapists improve detection and evaluation of dysarthria after brain injury.

Researchers are developing an Adaptive and Individualized Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system designed to help individuals with severe motor impairments communicate more effectively. This study focuses on creating a personalized communication device that automatically adapts to the user's physical abilities by customizing a comprehensive keyboard interface. The goal is to improve communication access for people who rely on alternative methods due to conditions like spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, or locked-in syndrome. Participants will use two types of AAC systems during the study: an Experimental AAC system featuring wearable sensors to detect movement and muscle activity for cursor control and selection, integrated with an adaptive keyboard; and a Generic AAC system similar to devices they normally use, such as eye-tracking with a generic keyboard. Each participant will use both systems in sequence to compare communication performance, with the Experimental AAC aiming to enhance information transfer and user experience. During the study, participants will attend approximately 5 testing sessions involving the use of these AAC systems over about one year. Researchers will assess communication effectiveness using tools such as the Tele-healthcare Satisfaction Questionnaire, Information Transfer Rate measurement, and the NASA Task Load Index. Additional evaluations include character movement time, path efficiency, word completion usage, and writing fluency. The study will monitor usability, acceptance, and benefits of the AAC system for people with severe motor challenges.

Researchers are studying aphasia, a language disorder caused by stroke and other brain injuries that affects over two million people in the United States. This research focuses on improving treatments for anomia, a word-finding difficulty that is a major frustration for people with aphasia. The study aims to evaluate new approaches to naming treatment that enhance long-term retention and help patients use their naming skills in daily life. This sub-study is part of a larger project and specifically investigates the benefits of adaptive trial scheduling. Participants will take part in a randomized crossover study comparing three treatment conditions: an adaptive spacing condition, a high-item non-adaptive spacing condition, and a low-item non-adaptive spacing condition. Each participant will receive all three conditions in a random order. Treatment involves computer-based training sessions lasting 30 minutes, four times per week for ten weeks per condition. During sessions, participants practice naming pictured objects using flashcards and rate their own accuracy. Responses and accuracy are recorded, and participants can replay and repeat answers if needed. All sessions, assessments, and probes are conducted via telehealth. Participants will undergo baseline assessments, treatment sessions, and follow-up probes at 1 week, 3 months, and 6 months after treatment. There are typically 3-4 but up to 6 assessment sessions and around 120 one-on-one treatment sessions per participant over approximately one year to 18 months. The primary outcomes measured are changes in correct naming of treated and untreated pictured objects and generalization to everyday contexts. Secondary outcomes include language use in discourse, communication abilities, and motivation. The study is sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh and involves detailed monitoring through telehealth technology.

This research aims to find out how artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted home practice can improve learning the "r" sound for school-age children who have persistent speech sound disorders. The study focuses on children who have difficulty producing this sound and evaluates two different schedules of combining AI-led and human speech-language clinician-led treatments. The AI tool used is designed to detect mispronunciations and provide feedback, potentially increasing access to effective speech therapy despite clinician shortages. Participants receive a total of 5 weekly speech lessons with a human speech-language clinician via telepractice for 5 weeks. In addition, they are assigned to one of two groups: one group receives 3 AI-led speech sessions per week concurrently during the same 5 weeks as the human clinician sessions, while the other group receives the 3 AI-led sessions per week after the human clinician sessions have ended. The AI sessions are supervised by a caregiver and use a web-based software that analyzes speech accuracy and adjusts practice difficulty accordingly. During the study, participants will be assessed before treatment, after 5 weeks, and again at 10 weeks to measure changes in their accuracy producing the "r" sound in both practiced and unpracticed words. Evaluations include blinded listener ratings and surveys on social, emotional, and academic impacts. The study includes telepractice sessions, speech sound analysis, and caregiver involvement. The total study duration for participants is 10 weeks, with careful monitoring of speech improvement and retention.