The Brain and Aphasia Recovery Lab spearheaded by Gerald C. Imaezue, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD), recently presented a compelling study at the 2024 American Congress for Rehabilitation Medicine Conference. CSD PhD student Celine Davis, MS, CCC-SLP, led the presentation, titled "Effect of Feedback-based Interventions and Daily Practice Schedule on Sentence Production in Persons with Chronic Nonfluent Aphasia."
Davis speaks with a conference attendee.
Their research investigated how different feedback strategies and practice schedules affect sentence production in persons with nonfluent aphasia. Davis showcased findings from a crossover study involving four adults with chronic nonfluent aphasia.
The study compared Recursive Self-Feedback (RSF) and External Feedback (EF) treatments delivered via a mobile app, with participants practicing either continuously or in spaced sessions. Results revealed that spaced practice schedules and RSF produced greater gains in speaking rate than continuous schedules or EF, highlighting RSF’s effectiveness in enhancing sentence production.
This innovative work, using automated speech transcription and linguistic analysis, paves the way for more personalized, accessible treatments for aphasia. For those in rehabilitation science, this study underscores the potential of feedback type and practice structure to optimize language recovery.