An interventional study of Video-Implemented Script Training for Aphasia (VISTA) and Lexical Retrieval Training (LRT) in Primary Progressive Aphasia, Dementia and Dementia, Frontotemporal, sponsored by Stephanie Grasso. Recruiting at 3 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 40 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-10.
Sponsored by Stephanie Grasso · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
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.
77 studies on the registry are indexed under Aphasia, Primary Progressive; 29 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 60 is above the median of 30 across 60 interventional studies indexed under Aphasia, Primary Progressive.
Browse Aphasia, Primary Progressive studies →This is the only study on the registry with Stephanie Grasso as lead sponsor.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
MMSE and MoCA
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Naming intervention for individuals with logopenic or semantic variant PPA.
Behavioral: Video-Implemented Script Training for Aphasia (VISTA) · Behavioral: Lexical Retrieval Training (LRT)
Script training intervention for individuals with nonfluent/agrammatic PPA.
Behavioral: Video-Implemented Script Training for Aphasia (VISTA) · Behavioral: Lexical Retrieval Training (LRT)
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.
Also known as: Script training
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.
Also known as: Naming intervention
Percent correct intelligible words from trained/untrained scripts
Percent of intelligible, scripted words for trained scripts and 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
Percent of correctly named trained pictured items and untrained pictured items
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
Aphasia Impact Questionnaire (AIQ)
Patient reported outcome measure for use with people with aphasia comprising three sections: activities, participation and emotional state/wellbeing. Uses a 5 point pictorial rating scale. The minimum score is 0 (best) and the maximum is 4 (worst).
Time frame: Pre-phase 1, Post-phase 2 (9 weeks from treatment onset)
Connected Speech Features: Type-token ratio
Total number of unique words (types) divided by the total number of words (tokens) derived from connected speech samples (script topic probes, picture description, and personal narrative).
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
Connected Speech Features: Mean length of utterance
Average number of words produced per utterance derived from connected speech samples (script topic probes, picture description, and personal narrative).
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
Acoustic Features: Articulation Rate
Syllables per second of phonated time derived from connected speech samples (script topic probes, picture description, and personal narrative).
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
Acoustic Features: Speech-to-pause time
Phonated time divided by pause time in the sample derived from connected speech samples (script topic probes, picture description, and personal narrative).
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
Post-treatment Communication Survey
Survey characterizing perceived response to treatment. Scale scale options are as follows: "a lot worse", "worse", "somewhat worse", "unchanged", "somewhat better", "better", and "a lot better." There are seven levels with "a lot worse" being the lowest rating and "a lot better" being the best rating.
Time frame: Post-treatment (approximately 6-12 weeks after treatment onset)
Plan to share: Yes — Data generated from this project will be shared via peer reviewed journal publications as well as through national and international conferences. All peer-reviewed manuscripts will be made available via PubMed Central, in adherence to the NIH Public Access Policy. Intervention protocols, de-identified summary data, and software code/scripts used for data analysis will be made publicly available upon publication of trial results. De-identified data from individual participants may be made available to the scientific community with approved data use and sharing agreements between the University of Texas, Hospital Sant Pau, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, and requesting institutions or entities, consistent with institution policy.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Analytic code
Time frame: Intervention protocols, de-identified summary data, and software code/scripts used for data analysis will be made publicly available upon publication of trial results.
Access criteria: De-identified data from individual participants may be made available to the scientific community with approved data use and sharing agreements between the University of Texas, Hospital Sant Pau, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, and requesting institutions or entities, consistent with institution policy.
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