Acquired Dyslexia Modeling and Treatment

Evidence-based Modeling for Acquired Dyslexia Treatments

This study is a low-risk, early phase 1, multicenter trial to test the use of a computational (neural network) cognitive model of reading to simulate acquired dyslexia and its treatment. The aim is to determine whether there is an advantage to receiving the treatment the model predicts to be advantageous compared to the alternative treatment. All participants will receive two full rounds of treatment. A round of treatment will consist of either phonomotor treatment (PMT) or semantic feature analysis (SFA) for 60 hours, distributed over 5 days a week for 2 hours a day.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Fluent in English as a first language pre-stroke by self report.
• Normal or corrected-to-normal vision.
• Normal or aided hearing.
• Left hemisphere ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke (as verified by a structural brain scan).
• Impaired reading as confirmed by significant impairment in the Basic Skills cluster of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test - III.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosed pre-stroke neurological disease affecting the brain other than left hemisphere stroke.
• Severe apraxia of speech (determined by consensus judgment among speech-language pathologists).
• History of learning disabilities such as developmental dyslexia or current self-reported major psychiatric disorders.
• Inability to undergo, or provide a copy of, a post-stroke brain imaging scan.