376 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of this study is to understand how transcranial magnetic stimulation affects how quickly, easily, and accurately a person read. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a technique that uses magnetic fields to briefly affect how well certain brain regions function. The investigators would like to better understand how long the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation occur in the reading system and at what point the effect is strongest in this system. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. At what point after stimulation are the greatest effects on behavior seen 2. How excitatory and inhibitory stimulation affect behavior Researchers will compare stimulation types against a sham condition to see effects on reading and language behavior. Participants will be asked to * undergo reading, language, and cognitive testing * receive an MRI * receive TMS stimulation * perform language, reading, and motor tasks
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the Talk With Me Baby (TWMB) program improves the home-language environment for at-risk families with children ages two to six months when primary care providers deliver the program during well-child checkups. The main question it aims to answer is: Will the TWMB program increase the time a caregiver talks to their infant? Participants will: 1. Come to at least four well-child checkups 2. Receive the TWMB program from the provider during the checkups 3. Record their conversations with their infant before they receive the program and after they receive the program four times.
The long-term study goal is to experimentally evaluate the components (and likely active ingredients) of early language interventions for young children with ASD. The overall objective is to determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects real-time language processing and word learning in young children with ASD (relative to full, grammatical utterances). The proposed project will investigate three specific aims: 1) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects language processing. 2) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects word learning. 3) Evaluate child characteristics that may moderate the effects of linguistic simplification on language processing and word learning. Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that children with ASD will process full, grammatical utterances faster and more accurately than single-word or telegraphic utterances. Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that full, grammatical utterances will support word learning better than telegraphic or single-word utterances. Aim 3 will test the hypothesis that language and cognitive skills significantly moderate the effects of linguistic simplification on language processing and word learning in young children with ASD.
The overall goal of this study is to evaluate whether stimulation of two brain areas alongside behavioral speech-language therapy increases connectivity to improve language functions in stroke-aphasia patients.
The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the efficacy of Pathways parent-mediated early autism intervention (Pathways) and a parent education intervention (PEI) delivered to culturally and linguistically diverse families with children 12-42 months of age suspected of or diagnosed with autism. Question 1: Is Pathways more effective than a PEI at (a) fostering the development of social orienting, joint attention, and social communication and language in children with a research diagnosis of autism and (b) relieving their parents' stress? Question 2: Is the magnitude of the relationship between early and later developing attention greater in children whose parents receive Pathways compared to children whose parents receive PEI? Question 3: Is the magnitude of the relationship between joint attention and social communication and language greater in children whose parents receive Pathways compared to children whose parents receive PEI? Participants will be randomized into 24 weeks of Pathways or PEI. Participants will receive a battery of assessments to evaluate the child's cognitive, social attention, social communication, language, and adaptive functioning, and parental stress at four different time points spaced every 12 weeks from baseline to three-month follow-up.
This study will examine the effect of TMS on people with stroke and aphasia as well as healthy individuals.
Language is a signature human cognitive skill, but the precise computations that support language understanding remain unknown. This study aims to combine high-quality human neural data obtained through intracranial recordings with advances in computational modeling of human cognition to shed light on the construction and understanding of speech.
Strokes often cause a loss of communication ability, referred to as aphasia, as well as cognitive difficulties. Each stroke survivor has a unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses in communication and cognition, and a unique course of recovery. The BUILD study aims to understand the brain basis of these individual differences in stroke outcome. Participants with stroke as well as controls matched in age, educational background, race, and sex are examined using a combination of standardized and in-house tests of language and cognition to provide a detailed profile of strengths and weaknesses. Each participant will have between three and six sessions, including an MRI to measure details of the structure, function, and connections in the brain. The data are analyzed to test how patterns in the stroke lesion explain the patterns of communication and cognitive difficulties, and how patterns in the uninjured parts of the brain explain resilience and recovery from the stroke. Ultimately, we hope that BUILD will guide us toward new targets for brain stimulation treatments or other biologically based treatments that improve language and cognitive abilities after stroke.
The overarching goal of the proposed research is to understand how human listeners learn speech categories. The project takes a prospective approach with adult second-language learners, blending empirical, methodological and theoretical advances from laboratory studies with explicit classroom instruction. The central hypothesis is that incidentally-acquired nonlinguistic perceptual building block categories may support speech perception and production in a second language. The project will advance important theoretical debates about the cross-talk between general auditory representations and speech categories and will provide a novel approach to nudging adult learners off learning plateau typically encountered in classroom instruction.
This research is using a Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) approach to design, implement, and evaluate English as a Second Language health literacy classes for Hispanic adults to reduce lead exposure.
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a therapy called High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) for the treatment of the language deficits experienced by people with a type of Primary Progressive Aphasia. This study uses a combination of brain imaging, language assessment, language training sessions, and HD-tDCS therapy as well as placebo therapy sessions.
People with acquired brain injury (ABI) often experience persistent language challenges that are subtle in nature and not readily observable to others. These challenges can have substantial negative effects on vocational and social endeavors despite their subtlety. Even though these challenges are prevalent in the ABI population, limited methods exist for quantifying and remediating them. The two purposes of Phase I of this research are to (a) explore methods of using event related potential (ERP) recordings to quantify language processing differences between people with and without ABI and (b) correlate behavioral observations from language tests with ERP findings. The purpose of Phase II is to explore the use of game-based, group activities as an intervention for people with ABI who experience word-retrieval challenges. The purpose of Phase III is to collect post-intervention data for comparison with Phase I data and provide evidence about the effectiveness of the intervention program.
The study is designed to determine whether there are clinical features that can be used as biomarkers to predict whether underlying Alzheimer's pathology is the cause of a speech and language based dementia. The primary hypothesis is that the proportion of patients who test positive for beta-amyloid deposition will vary across different speech and language based dementias.
This research investigates the ways in which preterm birth affects how very young children learn to speak and understand language, and how older children gain efficiency in language processing. The investigators observe how children at different ages learn new words and comprehend familiar words, how they communicate effectively with others, and how they use both linguistic and non-linguistic skills in problem-solving. All of the activities in the investigators' studies are designed to be age-appropriate and fun for children.
This project will address a major challenge to the field of autism research: improving expressive communication in children with autism who have reached school age but have not acquired functional spoken language (non-verbal school aged children with autism; NVSACA). Fifteen children who completed the RO1 ICAN intervention (NCT01018407) at the Kennedy Krieger site and follow-up testing but continue to have minimal functional spoken language will be participants in this study. After eligibility is established, participants will be randomly assigned to a baseline duration of one week, two weeks or three weeks before the start of active treatment. Once the baseline duration is completed, participants begin active treatment one hour of intervention three days per week in the participants' school setting. In month 2, weekly teacher trainings begin. In month 5, weekly parent trainings begin to improve the child's generalization of skills and teach parents the strategies implemented in their child's treatment. Post-baseline and post-treatment assessments will be completed in the lab at a time that is convenient for the participants' families.
This study is designed to examine how much therapy is needed in order to make significant gains in knowledge and use of complex sentences. Students will be randomly placed in individual treatment sessions that take place either once or twice per week for nine weeks. All will receive the same type of treatment, which consists of a focused series of oral and written language activities. While it is anticipated that students in both groups will benefit from treatment, we hypothesize that the twice-weekly session frequency will have a significantly greater impact on level of performance and maintenance of skills after treatment.
This study will contrast two experimental treatment conditions by testing whether joint attention/joint engagement intervention using spoken communication (JAE-EMT) results in better outcomes than joint attention/joint engagement intervention that is instead supplemented with an individualized AAC system (JAE-AAC). Thus, the skills of joint attention/joint engagement (JAE) remain foundational to developing expressive language but the difference in the two treatments will be between whether the JAE is administered through the more traditional spoken means (EMT) or through an augmentative and alternative communication device (AAC).
The investigators wish to investigate the efficacy of targeted repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on expressive language in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). In rTMS, magnetic pulses are used to noninvasively stimulate focal areas of cortex of about a square centimeter in area. rTMS has been approved in the United States for the diagnosis of peripheral nerve conditions. Depending on the frequency of stimulation, rTMS can preferentially stimulate or inhibit cortical areas. In stroke rehabilitation, for example, inhibition of the contralateral, uninvolved hemisphere by low frequency rTMS has improved movement of the affected limbs because of less aberrant inhibition of the affected hemisphere by the healthy hemisphere. The effects of rTMS has also been investigated and found to be useful in treating refractory depression and depression in Parkinson's disease. In addition, rTMS has improved naming in patients with Alzheimer's disease and has improved cognitive abilities and memory in non-demented older adults. Two studies found that rTMS improved aphasia in patients with stroke. While these studies are small, a review of the literature suggests that there may be a beneficial role for rTMS in patients with chronic neurological conditions. In addition, rTMS appears to be well tolerated, with transient headaches being the most common side effect. In this small open label study, the investigators wish to investigate the usefulness of bilateral stimulation of the brain region termed the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in patients with AD who have naming and language deficits.
The purpose of this study is to identify neurocognitive functions and language processing of 8-year-old children who were fed either breast milk, milk-based formula or soy-based formula during the first year of life.
This study will examine how certain language skills, such as naming objects, understanding spoken language and reading are organized in the brain and how they are affected by seizures. People with epilepsy who are considering surgery and healthy volunteers who are right-handed and between the ages of 7 and 55 may be eligible for this study. Participants undergo the following procedures twice, and, in some cases, possibly three times, in two or three visits of 2 to 4 hours each. Neuropsychological tests: Testing includes questionnaires, pen-and-pencil or computerized tests and motor tasks. Structural MRI: This procedure uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain pictures of brain structure. During the test, the subject lies in the scanner (a metal cylinder surrounded by a magnetic field) for about 90 minutes, wearing earmuffs to muffle knocking noises the machine makes. Subjects may be asked to lie still for up to 10 minutes at a time. Functional MRI: This procedure is similar to structural MRI, except a coil is placed over the head and the subject performs simple tasks during the procedure. The pictures obtained show what parts of the brain are being used to perform the task. The test lasts about 60 minutes, with subjects asked to lie still for up to 10 minutes at a time. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG): For MEG, the subject sits in an MEG recording room with a cone containing magnetic field detectors lowered onto his or her head. Very small magnetic changes produced by the activity of the brain are recorded while the subject sits quietly or performs a research task. An EEG recording of the electrical activity of the brain is done at the same time as the MEG. ...
This study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine how the brain processes tasks involving language and emotion in normal volunteers and in patients with epilepsy. MRI is a diagnostic and research tool that uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body organs and tissues. The MRI scanner is a metal cylinder surrounded by a magnetic field. During the test, the subject lies on a table that can slide in and out of the cylinder. DTI involves taking pictures of the brain while the subject is at rest in order to learn about the structure of the brain. Information gained from this study will help scientists evaluate the organization of language and emotional functions in the brain. Normal volunteers and patients with temporal lobe epilepsy 18 years of age and older who are native English speakers and who will undergo surgery for uncontrolled seizures may be eligible for this study. Candidates are initially screened by telephone, then with physical and neurologic examinations and cognitive testing. The study has two parts, conducted 6 to 12 months apart. Each part consists of the same sets of tests described below, using fMRI and DTI. In patients with epilepsy, Part 1 is scheduled before surgery and Part 2 after surgery. * fMRI: Subjects are asked to perform two types of tasks while they undergo fMRI. In one task, they are shown pictures of animals and tools and are asked to name them. In a second task, they are shown pictures that range in content from sexually explicit material, to human injury and surgical slides, to pleasant images of children and wildlife and are asked to decide whether they find the pictures pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant. * DTI: Subjects relax and remain still in the MRI scanner for about 45 minutes. * Neuropsychological testing: Subjects may be asked to complete questionnaires, take pen-and-paper or computerized tests, and perform motor tasks. Participants may be asked to repeat the MRI studies, but not the neuropsychological tests, up to four times to investigate different brain functions or to confirm findings.
This study will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate language function in children-that is, how language skills such as naming objects, understanding spoken language and reading are organized in the brain. The study focuses on children between 4 and 7 years old. Children 8 to 12 years old and adults will be studied before the younger children to test study paradigms appropriate for pre-literate children. The results of this study will help evaluate the usefulness of MRI in identifying language function and location and may improve the treatment of children with seizures. Right-handed, native English-speaking adults and children between 4 and 12 years of age may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a routine neurological examination. Children will also undergo neuropsychological testing (standard tests of language, memory, perception and attention) either at the screening visit or at a later time. Parents will fill out a form to identify children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. These children will be excluded form the study. All participants will undergo MRI scanning of the brain while performing a task designed to test a language skill, such as identifying a picture or listening to or reading a word. The MRI detects changes in blood properties in the areas of the brain that perform each task. Before the MRI, children will be rehearsed for the tests and will have a session in the scanner to know what to expect and feel more at ease during the actual test. The time in the MRI machine is usually between 15 and 20 minutes, but will be no more than 40 minutes for children 8 to 12 years old, and not more than 20 minutes for younger children. Children may be requested to have up to five MRI sessions to test different brain functions or confirm findings. ...
The human brain is made up of two halves called hemispheres. Each half of the brain is responsible for processing different kinds of information. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that both the right and left hemispheres are involved when processing information given in American Sign Language (ASL). However, the study also showed that when processing spoken language, the left hemisphere was mostly involved. Researchers would like to find out more about how the brain processes American Sign Language (ASL). This study is designed to determine if the right hemisphere is necessary for normal understanding of ASL.
Children with developmental language disorder (DLD; also referred to as specific language impairment) experience a significant deficit in language ability that is longstanding and harmful to the children's academic, social, and eventual economic wellbeing. Word learning is one of the principal weaknesses in these children. This project focuses on the word learning abilities of four- and five-year-old children with DLD. The goal of the project is to determine whether special benefits accrue when these children must frequently recall newly introduced words during the course of learning. In the current study, the investigators compare a "standard" repeated spaced retrieval schedule, with fixed spacing between hearing a word and attempting to retrieve it, to an "adaptive" repeated spaced retrieval schedule in which opportunities to retrieve a given word are tailored to the individual child's current knowledge state. The goal of the study is to determine whether the adaptive schedule can increase children's absolute levels of learning while maintaining the advantages of repeated spaced retrieval.
The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) combined with modified Constraint Induced Language Therapy (mCILT) is an effective treatment for aphasia when delivered in the subacute stage after stroke. The main questions this study aims to answer are: 1. Can TMS combined with mCILT improve overall speech? 2. Can we identify specific behavioral and biological characteristics that would benefit most from the TMS and mCILT treatment? Researchers will compare real TMS to sham (fake) TMS to see whether TMS can treat subacute aphasia. Importantly, this trial will use electric field guided TMS to identify optimal and individualized stimulation intensity and site targeting. Participants will: * Complete a screening and medical intake to determine eligibility * Undergo MRI scans * Participate in 10 consecutive sessions (Monday-Friday) of TMS and mCILT treatment * Complete follow-up assessments immediately and 4 months after treatment
The goal of this clinical trial is to determine how memory and attention affect the ability of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) to learn and use new vocabulary.
The long-term study goal is to experimentally evaluate the components (and likely active ingredients) of early language interventions for young children with Down syndrome (DS). The overall objective is to determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects real-time language processing and word learning in young children with DS (relative to full, grammatical utterances). The proposed project will investigate three specific aims: 1) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects language processing. 2) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects word learning. 3) Evaluate child characteristics that may moderate the effects of linguistic simplification on language processing and word learning. Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that children with DS will process grammatical utterances faster and more accurately than telegraphic or single-word utterances. Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that overall, children will demonstrate better word learning in the grammatical compared to the single-word and telegraphic conditions. Aim 3 will test the hypothesis that receptive language and nonverbal cognitive abilities will be significant moderators, such that children with stronger linguistic and cognitive skills will show the greatest benefit from grammatical input but children with lower linguistic and cognitive scores will perform similarly across conditions.
This study evaluates the impact of large language models (LLMs) versus traditional decision support tools on clinical decision-making in cardiology. General cardiologists will be randomized to manage real patient cases from a cardiovascular genetic cardiomyopathy clinic, with or without AI assistance. Each case will be assessed by two cardiologists, and their responses will be graded by blinded subspecialty experts using a standardized evaluation rubric.
The goal of this project is to compare the relative effectiveness of two novel treatments to improve the knowledge of the passive sentence structure of school-age (8-11-year-old) children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Treatment 1 is an implicit approach to promoting children's automatic grammar learning and Treatment 2 is a more conventional explicit approach in which participants are taught the rules underlying the grammar. Treatment 1 involves children listening to an examiner produce a target sentence 20 times during each training session while describing a picture. The children will then see a picture and be asked to describe the action taking place. Treatment 2 involves children listening to an examiner describe the action occurring in a picture using a sentence pattern targeted to the child's deficit. The child will then be asked who did the action in the sentence and who received the action, after which the examiner will provide specific feedback about why the child's response was correct or incorrect. The expectation is that over a short period children will begin to use their targeted sentence pattern after hearing the examiner produce it many times. Children will complete four outcome measures (syntactic knowledge, sentence comprehension, sentence chunking, narrative comprehension/ production) prior to treatment, immediately after treatment, and five weeks after treatment. Children will be randomly assigned to one of the two treatments. Both treatments will be delivered 20 times over 10 weeks. The investigators anticipate that the children receiving Treatment 1 will show stronger gains in knowledge across the four outcome measures.
The goal of this project is to compare the relative effectiveness of two novel treatments to improve the complex grammar knowledge of school-age (8-11-year-old) children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Treatment 1 is an implicit approach to promoting children's automatic grammar learning and Treatment 2 is a more conventional explicit approach in which participants are taught the rules underlying the grammar. Treatment 1 involves children listening to an examiner produce a target sentence 20 times during each training session while describing a picture. The children will then see a picture and be asked to describe the action taking place. Treatment 2 involves children listening to an examiner describe the action occurring in a picture using a sentence pattern targeted to the child's deficit. The child will then be asked who did the action in the sentence and who received the action, after which the examiner will provide specific feedback about why the child's response was correct or incorrect. The expectation is that over a short period children will begin to use their targeted sentence pattern after hearing the examiner produce it many times. Children will complete four outcome measures (syntactic knowledge, sentence comprehension, sentence chunking, narrative comprehension/ production) prior to treatment, immediately after treatment, and five weeks after treatment. Children will be randomly assigned to one of the two treatments. Both treatments will be delivered 20 times over 10 weeks. The investigators anticipate that the children receiving Treatment 1 will show stronger gains in knowledge across the four outcome measures.