Abstract:  Aphasia is a disorder marked by impairments in language and cognition. There is substantial variability in how well people with aphasia (PWA) respond to treatment. This variability likely stems from aphasia therapy primarily focusing on language treatments, despite intervention response being predicted by both language and cognitive measures. Addressing cognition is crucial to improving the effectiveness of aphasia treatment programs, as PWA with cognitive deficits have worse rehabilitation outcomes than those without. Attention is a prime cognitive target for aphasia treatment because it is a foundational process that supports other cognitive functions, including language, and the functional connectivity of the brain’s attention networks predicts intervention response. However, there are currently few treatments that target attention in PWA, and those that do lack generalizability to the attention resources that support language. Music-based interventions (MBIs) may provide an alternative mechanism for treating attention deficits in PWA. Music may improve attention by increasing the functional connectivity within the brain's attention networks, which may allow an individual to better capitalize on conventional speech and language therapy. The purpose of this R34 grant is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a well-established MBI for use with PWA. Aim 1 will pilot the intervention (music listening) and active control (audiobook listening) in two groups of PWA. Attention and language will be assessed for all participants before, after, and every two weeks during the intervention. Additionally, structural and functional MRI scans will be collected from a subset of participants in both groups before and after the intervention. In Aim 2, we will assess the feasibility of our recruitment, retention, and data collection procedures. The results from this proposal will serve as pilot data for a fully powered R01 exploring whether MBIs induce changes in the brain that improve attention and language abilities in post-stroke aphasia.

This year’s SHRP schedule is available here: https://purdue.edu/TPAN/hearing/shrp_schedule 

Titles and abstracts of all SHRP talks are here: https://purdue.edu/TPAN/hearing/shrp_abstracts