Measuring Real-World Talk Time and Locations of People With Aphasia Using Wearable Technology.

Purpose: Measuring real-world communication participation of individuals with aphasia is complicated. Historically, this has been estimated through subjective participant or proxy self-report. To address potential inaccuracies, objective measures such as "talk time" have been proposed.

Statistical evaluation of tongue capability with visual feedback.

Background: Analysis of tongue movement would benefit from a reference showcasing healthy tongue capability. We aimed to develop a reference of tongue capability and evaluated the role of visual feedback on the expression of movement.

Methods: Using a wireless tracking intraoral wearable device, we composed probability distributions of the tongue tip as subjects were asked to explore the entire sensing surface area.

Timing of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with speech and language therapy (SLT) for aphasia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Studies suggest that language recovery in aphasia may be improved by pairing speech-language therapy with transcranial direct current stimulation. However, results from many studies have been inconclusive regarding the impact transcranial direct current stimulation may have on language recovery in individuals with aphasia. An important factor that may impact the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation is its timing relative to speech-language therapy.

Transactional Success in the Texting of Individuals With Aphasia.

Purpose: Text messaging is a pervasive form of communication in today's digital society. Our prior research indicates that individuals with aphasia text, but they vary widely in how actively they engage in texting, the types of messages they send, and the number of contacts with whom they text. It is reported that people with aphasia experience difficulties with texting; however, the degree to which they are successful in conveying information via text message is unknown.

Complexity and Feedback During Script Training in Aphasia: A Feasibility Study.

Objective: To explore the effect of complexity and feedback on script training outcomes in aphasia DESIGN: Randomized balanced single-blind 2 × 2 factorial design.

Setting: Freestanding urban rehabilitation hospital.

Participants: Adults with fluent and nonfluent aphasia (at least 6 months post onset).

Prospectively Predicting Adult Depressive Symptoms from Adolescent Peer Dysfunction: a Sibling Comparison Study.

Previous studies have shown that peer dysfunction in adolescence predicts depression in adulthood, even when controlling for certain individual- and/or family-level characteristics. However, these studies have not controlled for numerous potential familial confounders, precluding causal inferences. The present study therefore used a sibling comparison design (i.

Test-retest reliability of heart-rate variability metrics in individuals with aphasia.

Individuals with aphasia may have impairments in cognition, higher incidences of depression, and a variety of post-stroke functional impairments. However, evaluating these issues is challenging since most assessments require some degree of linguistic processing and task instructions are often verbal. Heart rate variability has shown to be an objective marker for cognitive functioning in neurologically healthy individuals, depression and post-stroke depression, and post-stroke functional impairments.

Behavioral interventions for poststroke aphasia.

There is a long history of behavioral interventions for poststroke aphasia with hundreds of studies supporting the benefits of aphasia treatment. However, interventions for aphasia are complex with many interacting components, and no one treatment is appropriate for all persons with aphasia. We present a novel, simple framework for classifying aphasia interventions.

Depression over Time in Persons with Stroke: A Network Analysis Approach.

Background: Network analysis has been used to elucidate the relationships among depressive symptoms, but this approach has not been typically used in persons with stroke.

Method: Using a sample of 835 persons with stroke from Stroke Recovery in Underserved Populations 2005-2006 dataset, this study used network analysis to (1) examine changes in relationships between depressive symptoms over time, and (2) test whether baseline network characteristics were prognostic for depression persistence. Network analysis was performed on depressive symptoms collected at discharge from inpatient rehabilitation and at 3-months and 12-months post-discharge.

Developments in the application of Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programs: an international survey of practice.

Purpose: Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programs (ICAPs) were first described in 2013 with an international survey documenting 12 unique programs. ICAPs involve high dose intervention delivered in both group and individual settings, targeting communication across impairment, functioning, participation, and contextual domains. In this study, we aimed to investigate international growth in ICAPs.

Internal Consistency and Convergent Validity of Self-Report and By-Proxy Measures of Depression in Persons With Aphasia.

Purpose Depression assessment is challenging in persons with aphasia given their language impairment. Studies have used both self-report scales and by-proxy measures of depression in persons with aphasia. However, the validity of these measures has been called into question.

Implementation Cost Analysis of an Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program.

Objective: To identify and measure the costs of implementing an intensive comprehensive aphasia program (ICAP).

Design: Retrospective cost analysis of a clinical ICAP. Cost inputs were gathered directly from the provider of the ICAP.

Treatment Fidelity Procedures for an Aphasia Intervention Within a Randomized Controlled Trial: Design, Feasibility, and Results.

Purpose This study reports on the treatment fidelity procedures implemented during a 5-year randomized controlled trial comparing intensive and distributed comprehensive aphasia therapy. Specifically, the results of 1 treatment, verb network strengthening treatment (VNeST), are examined. Method Eight participants were recruited for each of 7 consecutive cohorts for a total of 56 participants.

Depression and Subthreshold Depression in Stroke-Related Aphasia.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of depression and subthreshold depression in persons with aphasia. To investigate whether there are linguistic and cognitive differences between those with depression, subthreshold depression, and no depression.

Design: Survey.

Script Templates: A Practical Approach to Script Training in Aphasia.

Purpose: Script training for aphasia involves repeated practice of relevant phrases and sentences that, when mastered, can potentially be used in other communicative situations. Although an increasingly popular approach, script development can be time-consuming. We provide a detailed summary of the evidence supporting this approach.

Communication Partner Training in Aphasia: An Updated Systematic Review.

Objectives: To update a previous systematic review describing the effect of communication partner training on individuals with aphasia and their communication partners, with clinical questions addressing effects of partner training on language, communication activity/participation, psychosocial adjustment, and quality of life.

Data Sources: Twelve electronic databases were searched using 23 search terms. References from relevant articles were hand searched.

Epidural Cortical Stimulation as Adjunctive Treatment for Nonfluent Aphasia: Phase 1 Clinical Trial Follow-up Findings.

Background: There is increasing interest in the application of cortical stimulation (CS) as an adjuvant strategy in aphasia rehabilitation. Epidural CS, although more invasive than other methods, can provide high-frequency ipsilesional stimulation with greater spatial specificity.

Objective: We review methods and results of a phase 1 study of epidural CS in combination with rehabilitation therapy in aphasia and provide new objective and self-report data collected between 6 and 21 months after the end of treatment.

Clinician perspectives of an intensive comprehensive aphasia program.

Background: Intensive comprehensive aphasia programs (ICAPs) have increased in number in recent years in the United States and abroad.

Objective: To describe the experiences of clinicians working in an ICAP.

Methods: A phenomenological approach was taken.

Telerehabilitation, virtual therapists, and acquired neurologic speech and language disorders.

Telerehabilitation (telerehab) offers cost-effective services that potentially can improve access to care for those with acquired neurologic communication disorders. However, regulatory issues including licensure, reimbursement, and threats to privacy and confidentiality hinder the routine implementation of telerehab services into the clinical setting. Despite these barriers, rapid technological advances and a growing body of research regarding the use of telerehab applications support its use.

"Waiting on the words": procedures and outcomes of a drama class for individuals with aphasia.

Drama therapy offers an authentic medium through which people with aphasia can interact and share their experiences. We describe the rationale and procedures of a drama class, informed by the principles and practices of drama therapy, in which individuals with chronic aphasia conceptualized, wrote, and produced a play addressing their experiences of having, living with, and coping with the effects of aphasia. Sessions were cofacilitated by a speech-language pathologist and a drama therapist.

Intensity of aphasia therapy: evidence and efficacy.

Determining the optimal amount and intensity of treatment is essential to the design and implementation of any treatment program for aphasia. A growing body of evidence, both behavioral and biological, suggests that intensive therapy positively impacts outcomes. We update a systematic review of treatment studies that directly compares conditions of higher and lower intensity treatment for aphasia.

Oral reading for language in aphasia (ORLA): evaluating the efficacy of computer-delivered therapy in chronic nonfluent aphasia.

Purpose: This study examined the efficacy of a treatment, Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia (ORLA), delivered by computer to individuals with chronic nonfluent aphasia and compared its efficacy with the same treatment delivered by a speech-language pathologist (SLP).

Method: With ORLA, the person with aphasia systematically and repeatedly reads aloud sentences, first in unison and then independently. Following a no-treatment period, 25 individuals with chronic nonfluent aphasia were randomly assigned to receive 24 sessions of ORLA, 1-3 times per week, either by computer or by the SLP.

Communication confidence in persons with aphasia.

Communication confidence is a construct that has not been explored in the aphasia literature. Recently, national and international organizations have endorsed broader assessment methods that address quality of life and include participation, activity, and impairment domains as well as psychosocial areas. Individuals with aphasia encounter difficulties in all these areas on a daily basis in living with a communication disorder.

IMITATE: An intensive computer-based treatment for aphasia based on action observation and imitation.

BACKGROUND: Neurophysiological evidence from primates has demonstrated the presence of mirror neurons, with visual and motor properties, that discharge both when an action is performed and during observation of the same action. A similar system for observation-execution matching may also exist in humans. We postulate that behavioral stimulation of this parietal-frontal system may play an important role in motor learning for speech and thereby aid language recovery after stroke.

Oral reading for language in aphasia: impact of aphasia severity on cross-modal outcomes in chronic nonfluent aphasia.

This study examined the efficacy of a treatment, Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia (ORLA), for individuals with chronic nonfluent aphasia of varying severity levels. With ORLA, the person with aphasia systematically and repeatedly reads sentences aloud, first in unison with the clinician and then independently. Following a period of no treatment, 25 individuals with chronic nonfluent aphasia received 24 sessions of ORLA, 1 to 3 times per week.