Therapy for Reading Problems in Adults After Brain Injury

This study is currently recruiting participants.

Verified by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), January 2006

First Received: July 14, 2003 Last Updated: September 11, 2008 History of Changes

Sponsor:	Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Information provided by:	Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00064805

Purpose

Adults who sustain brain damage due to stroke, head injury, or traumatic surgery may develop difficulty reading. This study examines the effectiveness of behavior-based programs to improve reading ability in these individuals.

Condition	Intervention
Dyslexia, Acquired Brain Injuries Cerebrovascular Accident	Behavioral: Cognitive Therapy to Improve Reading

Study Type:	Interventional
Study Design:	Treatment, Non-Randomized, Open Label, Active Control, Parallel Assignment, Efficacy Study
Official Title:	Cognitively-Based Treatments of Acquired Dyslexias

Resource links provided by NLM:

MedlinePlus related topics: Traumatic Brain Injury

U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD):

Primary Outcome Measures:

Improved accuracy and/or speed of reading individual words aloud.

Secondary Outcome Measures:

Improved accuracy and/or speed of reading text aloud.

Estimated Enrollment:	58
Study Start Date:	August 2002
Estimated Study Completion Date:	July 2007

Detailed Description:

Acquired disorders of reading (acquired dyslexia) are common in patients with aphasia subsequent to left hemisphere stroke. Even when language functions recover sufficiently to enable the patient to return to work, continuing dyslexia often interferes significantly with job performance. This study will evaluate cognitive therapies for the treatment of acquired dyslexia.

Each therapy is based upon a cognitive neuropsychological model of reading; the therapies target specific types of reading deficit and stem from the question of re-learning versus re-organization of function. The therapies focus on dyslexic disorders stemming from the following underlying deficits: 1) impaired access to the orthographic word form from the visual modality (pure alexia); 2) impaired orthographic/phonologic connections (phonologic/deep dyslexia); and 3) decreased ability to hold phonologic codes in memory (phonologic text alexia).

Participants in this study will undergo a comprehensive and detailed battery of reading and reading-related tests to determine the underlying impairment causing the reading deficit. Based upon the results of these tests, the patient's dyslexic disorder will be characterized and, if appropriate, the patient will be assigned to one of the treatment programs devised specifically for that type of deficit. Treatment programs are evaluated for efficacy by comparing the accuracy and speed of reading pre- and post-treatment.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:	18 Years and older
Genders Eligible for Study:	Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Reading deficit subsequent to stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain surgery, or other brain damage
Ability to attend 2-3 sessions per week for several months at Georgetown University in Washington, DC

Exclusion Criteria

History of developmental dyslexia or learning disabilities
Best corrected vision less than 20/40
Less than 10 years of formal education
Significant memory or comprehension problems

Contacts and Locations

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00064805

Contacts

Contact: Sarah F. Snider, MA, SLP		sfs24@georgetown.edu
Contact: Nora L. Watson, BS		nlw9@georgetown.edu

Locations

United States, District of Columbia
Georgetown University Medical Center	Recruiting
Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20057

Sponsors and Collaborators

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Investigators

Principal Investigator:

Rhonda B. Friedman, Ph.D.

Georgetown University Medical School

More Information

Additional Information:

Cognitive Neuropsychology Lab at Georgetown University Medical Center This link exits the ClinicalTrials.gov site

Publications:

Friedman RB, Lott SN. Rapid word identification in pure alexia is lexical but not semantic. Brain Lang. 2000 May;72(3):219-37.

Nitzberg Lott S, Friedman RB. Can treatment for pure alexia improve letter-by-letter reading speed without sacrificing accuracy? Brain Lang. 1999 May;67(3):188-201.

Friedman RB, Sample DM, Lott SN. The role of level of representation in the use of paired associate learning for rehabilitation of alexia. Neuropsychologia. 2002;40(2):223-34.

Marchand Y, Friedman RB. Impaired oral reading in two atypical dyslexics: a comparison with a computational lexical-analogy model. Brain Lang. 2005 Jun;93(3):255-66. Epub 2004 Dec 15.

Study ID Numbers:	R01HD36019
Study First Received:	July 14, 2003
Last Updated:	September 11, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00064805 History of Changes
Health Authority:	United States: Federal Government

Keywords provided by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD):

Cognitive therapy
Aphasia therapy
Alexia
Acquired dyslexia
Phonological deficits

Orthographic deficits
Brain disorders
Brain injury
Stroke

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Dyslexia, Acquired
Craniocerebral Trauma
Cerebral Infarction
Disorders of Environmental Origin
Brain Diseases
Cerebrovascular Disorders
Signs and Symptoms
Mental Disorders
Mental Disorders Diagnosed in Childhood
Brain Ischemia
Cardiovascular Diseases
Brain Injuries
Neurobehavioral Manifestations

Nervous System Diseases
Stroke
Vascular Diseases
Wounds and Injuries
Language Disorders
Dyslexia
Central Nervous System Diseases
Learning Disorders
Trauma, Nervous System
Delirium, Dementia, Amnestic, Cognitive Disorders
Neurologic Manifestations
Brain Infarction
Communication Disorders

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on November 27, 2009