Category Learning Training for Language Disorder

(Time2Learn Trial)

Recruiting at 1 trial location

Overseen By Frances Earle, PhD

Age: 18 - 65

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of Delaware

Must not be taking: Sleep medications

Disqualifiers: Neurological, psychiatric, socio-emotional, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 25

540 Participants Needed

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial explores how different training schedules can help adults with developmental language disorder (DLD) improve memory and learning of speech sounds. DLD affects communication and can hinder educational and career progress. Researchers are testing various training schedules to determine which best supports memory retention, considering factors like time of day and overnight rest. Participants will be divided into groups with different training schedules, and researchers will observe their learning patterns. Ideal candidates are native American English speakers who have lived in English-speaking homes and have no history of neurological or psychiatric disorders. As an unphased trial, this study offers participants the chance to contribute to groundbreaking research that could enhance educational and career outcomes for those with DLD.

Do I need to stop taking my current medications for the trial?

If you are on prescription medications that alter sleep, you may need to stop taking them to participate in this trial.

What prior data suggests that this training is safe for adults with and without developmental language disorder?

Research has shown that auditory training can benefit people with developmental language disorder (DLD). Studies have found that it improves how children with DLD process sounds, understand speech, and remember words. This suggests that similar training might also be safe and helpful for adults.

Additionally, the study includes perceptual category training, which aids in learning and remembering information with minimal effort.

While the studies do not mention negative effects, the focus on training methods suggests a low risk of side effects. The "Not Applicable" phase trial indicates that the approach is generally considered safe, especially since it involves learning techniques rather than new drugs or medical procedures. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about this trial because it explores innovative training methods to help people with language disorders. Traditional treatments often rely on speech therapy and medications, but this trial investigates perceptual category training, a technique that may enhance language processing by improving how individuals categorize sounds and words. With different training schedules, such as morning versus evening sessions and various distribution patterns, the trial aims to discover the most effective approach for optimizing language learning. These findings could lead to more personalized and effective interventions for those struggling with language disorders, offering hope for quicker and more sustainable improvements.

What evidence suggests that this trial's training schedules could be effective for language disorder?

Research has shown that perceptual category training can improve language skills in people with developmental language disorder (DLD). In previous studies, listening exercises positively affected speech understanding and sound memory, both crucial for language learning. Specifically, children with DLD who participated in these exercises demonstrated better speech processing abilities. This trial will explore various training schedules, such as Distributed Morning Training and Blocked Evening-Morning Training, to identify the most effective approach. The training leverages the strong visual and listening skills often found in people with DLD to enhance learning. Overall, perceptual category training offers a promising method to improve language skills in those with DLD. ^{1 6 7 8 9}

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for native American English speakers aged 18-55 with normal vision and hearing. It's designed for adults both with developmental language disorder (DLD) and without any language impairments. Participants need internet access and headphones to join the online activities. Those with neurological, psychiatric, or socio-emotional disorders or on sleep-altering meds cannot participate.

Inclusion Criteria

I am a native American English speaker.

You must fit the requirements to be in either the TD or DLD group.

You have normal vision and hearing.

Exclusion Criteria

You have had mental health problems in the past.

I have a history of neurological disorders.

I am taking medication that affects my sleep.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Training

Participants undergo speech-perceptual training in one of six different schedules over 24 hours

24 hours

Multiple sessions within 24 hours

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for speech discrimination and category identification performance

1 week

1 event-related potential (ERP) session

Extended Training

Additional training to investigate interaction with reflexive and reflective learning strategies

Varies based on training schedule

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Perceptual category training

Trial Overview

The study tests how different training schedules affect learning speech sounds in adults with and without DLD. It involves perceptual category training across six schedules to find out which one best supports memory retention, considering circadian preferences and overnight consolidation.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Distributed Morning Training Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

One hour training in the morning, followed by a two 30 min trainings 12 and 24 hours later

Group II: Distributed Evening Training Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

One hour training in the evening, followed by a two 30 min trainings 12 and 24 hours later

Group III: Blocked Morning-Evening Training Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

One hour training in the morning, followed by a one hour training 12 hours later

Group IV: Blocked Morning Only Training Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

One hour training in the morning, followed by a one hour training 24 hours later

Group V: Blocked Evening-Morning Training Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

One hour training in the evening, followed by a one hour training 12 hours later

Group VI: Blocked Evening Only Training Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

One hour training in the evening, followed by a one hour training 24 hours later

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of Delaware

Lead Sponsor

Trials

167

Recruited

25,700+

Northeastern University

Collaborator

Trials

103

Recruited

72,600+

Published Research Related to This Trial

Training adults to categorize speech sounds improved their ability to distinguish between different categories of sounds, indicating that targeted training can enhance categorical perception.

Neural imaging revealed that the middle frontal gyri are involved in encoding learned speech categories, suggesting that higher-level cognitive processes in the frontal lobes may influence how we perceive and categorize speech sounds.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Effects of category learning on neural sensitivity to non-native phonetic categories. Myers, EB., Swan, K.[2021]

Training can lead to changes in brain activity before any noticeable improvement in behavior, indicating that learning can happen at a level we can't consciously see.

Neurophysiological measurements can be used to assess the effectiveness of auditory training in children with learning deficits or individuals using hearing aids, suggesting that if brain changes occur, behavioral improvements are likely to follow.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The time course of auditory perceptual learning: neurophysiological changes during speech-sound training. Tremblay, K., Kraus, N., McGee, T.[2022]

Perceptual training significantly improved typical listeners' ability to identify vowels produced by speakers with dysarthria, indicating that targeted training can enhance vowel recognition skills.

Listeners were able to generalize their training from front vowels to back vowels and from one speaker to another, but not the other way around, suggesting specific patterns of learning that could inform future clinical training methods.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Perceptual Learning of Altered Vowel Space Improves Identification of Vowels Produced by Individuals With Dysarthria Secondary to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Olmstead, AJ., Lee, J., Chen, J.[2022]

Phonemic contrast discrimination training significantly improved phonological awareness and word discrimination in 18 children aged 8 to 10, with age-equivalent scores increasing by about 2 years after 12 training sessions over 4 weeks.

The improvements in phonological awareness were maintained even 5-6 weeks after the training, while no such improvements were observed in the control group participating in regular classroom activities.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Discrimination training of phonemic contrasts enhances phonological processing in mainstream school children. Moore, DR., Rosenberg, JF., Coleman, JS.[2006]

Auditory training significantly improved the ability of 17 undergraduate Speech-Language Pathology students to assess voice quality, particularly in analyzing asthenia, after nine 15-minute training sessions.

Despite some challenges with the roughness parameter, the overall training helped maintain and enhance students' assessment skills, indicating its effectiveness in educational settings.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Impact of auditory training for perceptual assessment of voice executed by undergraduate students in Speech-Language Pathology. Silva, RS., Simões-Zenari, M., Nemr, NK.[2019]

In a study involving 20 adults, exposure to similar-sounding speech syllables led to enhanced neural activity over time, particularly in those who engaged in an identification task, suggesting that stimulus exposure can modify brain processing of sounds.

The observed physiological changes in brain activity persisted for months, indicating that even without formal training, repeated exposure to auditory stimuli can lead to long-lasting changes in how the brain responds to sounds, although these changes did not translate into improved perceptual skills.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Repeated stimulus exposure alters the way sound is encoded in the human brain. Tremblay, KL., Inoue, K., McClannahan, K., et al.[2022]

Individuals with dyslexia showed impaired ability to learn categories based on information-integration, indicating a disruption in the procedural memory system, while their rule-based category learning remained intact.

The study suggests that dyslexia may involve inefficiencies in procedural learning strategies, which could contribute to difficulties in acquiring phonetic categories, highlighting the existence of multiple systems for category learning.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Impaired and Spared Auditory Category Learning in Developmental Dyslexia. Gabay, Y., Roark, CL., Holt, LL.[2023]

Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) showed impaired ability to learn auditory categories through procedural learning methods, while their rule-based learning remained intact, indicating a specific deficit in procedural learning.

The study highlights that children with DLD have slower adaptation to optimal procedural strategies, supporting the idea that language disorders may stem from difficulties in procedural learning systems, which can affect their ability to form stable linguistic representations.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Procedural auditory category learning is selectively disrupted in developmental language disorder. Derawi, H., Roark, CL., Gabay, Y.[2023]

Participants who underwent audiovisual (AV) training showed significantly better accuracy in identifying vocoded speech compared to those who received audio-only (AO) training, indicating that AV training enhances auditory perceptual learning.

However, alternating between AV and AO training revealed that AO training was more effective for learning, suggesting that early integration of visual information may sometimes hinder the development of auditory skills.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Auditory Perceptual Learning for Speech Perception Can be Enhanced by Audiovisual Training. Bernstein, LE., Auer, ET., Eberhardt, SP., et al.[2021]

All four training protocols significantly improved participants' ability to accurately reproduce time-compressed sentences compared to a control group, indicating that perceptual learning can enhance speech perception in adults.

Training that began with easier, less distorted speech resulted in better overall gains in understanding and reproducing both trained and novel sentences, suggesting that starting with simpler tasks may be more effective than immediately using difficult, highly distorted speech.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The perceptual learning of time-compressed speech: A comparison of training protocols with different levels of difficulty. Gabay, Y., Karni, A., Banai, K.[2019]

Older listeners, even those with mild-to-moderate high-frequency hearing loss, can still effectively engage in lexically guided perceptual learning, indicating that this ability is resilient despite hearing challenges.

The study found that attention-switching control influences perceptual learning; listeners with poorer attention-switching control experienced a stronger learning effect, suggesting that reliance on acoustic information varies with attentional abilities.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The role of attentional abilities in lexically guided perceptual learning by older listeners. Scharenborg, O., Weber, A., Janse, E.[2018]

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