SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY

Research for speech-language pathology

Papers a speech-language pathologist can act on — aphasia, dysphagia, developmental language, fluency, voice and augmentative communication — read in full and summarised plainly.

10,216 PAPERS · PAGE 182 OF 205 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTSLPRCT2026Escitalopram promotes recovery from hand paresis in cortical sensori-motor stroke: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled longitudinal study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationEscitalopram plus occupational therapy improved fine finger dexterity and brain activation patterns more than placebo plus therapy over nine months in acute stroke. However, the study was tiny, so this is a signal for larger trials, not a reason to change practice.
• SLPSurvey2026Examining the Use of Pill Swallowing in Dysphagia Assessment: A Survey of Common Practices.DysphagiaMost SLPs sometimes assess pill swallowing during VFSS, but few do it routinely or include it in their protocols. Many recommend medication changes without testing pill swallowing, and only half consult other team members when they do.
• SLPCohort2025Effects of Preoperative Factors on the Learning Curves of Postlingual Cochlear Implant Recipients.Ear and hearingAverage speech recognition scores after cochlear implantation improved from 51% to 85%, with a median 1.5 months to reach 80% of gain. Preoperative factors could not reliably predict outcomes, explaining only 2%, 10%, or 19% of differences.
• SLPOther2025Use of Transfer Learning for the Automated Segmentation and Detection of Swallows via Digital Cervical Auscultation in Children.DysphagiaA new machine learning tool automatically found 81% of swallows in children's cervical auscultation recordings. This removes the need for time-consuming manual audio sorting, but the tool detects swallows only, not aspiration itself.
• OTSLPSurvey2025The Feeding-swallowing Impact Survey: Reference Values from a UK Sample of Parents of Children Without a Known or Suspected Feeding Disorder.DysphagiaFor UK parents of children without diagnosed feeding disorders, the Feeding-swallowing Impact Survey scores are very low, with a median total of 20 on a 18-90 scale. This provides a baseline showing that typical mealtime challenges rarely cause significant family quality of life impairment.
• SLPCohort2025Effects of Telemedicine on Dysphagia Rehabilitation in Patients Requiring Home Care: A Retrospective Study.DysphagiaPatients who switched to video-based swallowing care when home visits stopped had fewer swallowing-related complications than those whose care was suspended. This suggests maintaining contact via telemedicine helps prevent adverse events when face-to-face visits are impossible.
• SLPOther2025Seeing a Talker's Mouth Reduces the Effort of Perceiving Speech and Repairing Perceptual Mistakes for Listeners With Cochlear Implants.Ear and hearingFor cochlear implant users, seeing the talker's mouth reduced listening effort and speech errors, especially when repairing a missing word. Typical-hearing listeners showed only brief, small effort effects.
• SLPOther2025Auditory Change Complex Responses to Spectrotemporally Modulated Stimuli.Ear and hearingAn objective hearing test using brain responses detected modulation better with tonal than noise stimuli. Averaging left and right mastoid signals and tracking the 'reference-to-target' change yielded the most reliable results. This method works without patient responses, aiding those who cannot cooperate with standard behavioral tests.
• SLPCase-Control2025Potential association between altered oral microbiota and oxidative stress in individuals with autism.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceChildren with autism showed distinct oral bacteria profiles and higher oxidative stress markers compared to typically developing peers. These differences were observed alongside reduced antioxidant gene expression. The study identifies a potential biological link but does not prove that altering oral health or microbiota improves autism symptoms.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Early Life Neurodevelopment of Infants Across a Wide Gestational Age Range.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPEach extra week in the womb linked to tiny gains in infant development. The effect was smallest for term babies but grew larger for preterm infants. Regular monitoring is advised for all preterm and early term babies.
• SLPOther2025Associations Between Pre-Fitting Factors and 2-Year Hearing Aid Use Persistence, Derived From Health Records and Post-Fitting Battery Order Data of 284,175 US Veterans.Ear and hearingHearing aid persistence depends on more than hearing loss. Experienced users persisted more than new users. Dementia, mental health conditions, and multimorbidity reduced persistence. Race and partnership status also mattered. These pre-fitting factors are not modifiable but can flag patients needing extra support.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025The Direct and Indirect Effects of Hearing Loss on Loneliness in Older Adults.Ear and hearingOlder adults who rated their own hearing as poor reported higher loneliness scores than those with better hearing. Loneliness also increased more over time in this group. Hearing aid use did not significantly change the link between hearing ability and loneliness.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Elevated autistic features in Parkinson's disease and other motor disorders.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic traits were elevated in both Parkinson's and other motor disorders compared to controls. The difference was specific to males; females showed no group differences. This suggests a broad link between motor conditions and autistic features, not one unique to Parkinson's.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2025Challenging neurotypical norms: Autistic adults' understandings of health.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults and their emergency contacts defined health similarly, focusing on subjective well-being and the absence of pain. Emergency contacts often perceived differences in health understanding that were not present in the interviews.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Dysphagia and Oral Health in Older Adults with Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome.DysphagiaCommunity-dwelling older adults with motoric cognitive risk syndrome reported significantly more swallowing difficulty than those without. Each one-point increase on the swallowing questionnaire raised the odds of having the syndrome by 13%. Oral health scores did not predict the syndrome.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Daily Temporal Associations Between Use of Psychoactive Substances and Fatigue, Pain, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms in People With Multiple Sclerosis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationIn adults with MS, alcohol use lowered stress but increased fatigue. Caffeine reduced fatigue yet raised stress. Nicotine and cannabis increased fatigue. Opioid use was linked to higher average pain. Symptoms did not predict caffeine, nicotine, or cannabis use, suggesting habitual rather than reactive consumption.
• PTOTSLPRCT2026Predicting effect and evaluating cost-effectiveness of a family intervention after acquired brain or spinal cord injury: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of rehabilitation medicineAn 8-week family intervention improved mental health and reduced anxiety and depression scores more than psychoeducation. It was likely cost-effective at 2 and 8 months. Benefits did not vary by injury type or whether sessions were in person or online.
• SLPOther2026Considering whether brain-computer interfaces have prospective potential to support children who have the physical abilities for touch-based AAC access: a forum manuscript.Augmentative and alternative communication (Baltimore, Md. : 1985)This paper is a theoretical discussion about how brain-computer interfaces might one day help children with developmental disabilities who can already use touch-based AAC. It proposes ideas like detecting stress to change screen displays but reports no new data or tested outcomes.
• PTSLPCohort2025Development of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Young Infants With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Preterm Birth, and Typical Development.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchInfants born preterm showed lower heart rate variability in the first 6 months, but this difference vanished when age was corrected for prematurity. Infants later diagnosed with autism showed higher variability from 9 to 24 months. These physiological differences were not explained by cognitive or language skills.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025A longitudinal evaluation of gastrointestinal symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceChildren with autism reported gastrointestinal symptoms twice as often as typically developing peers, and these symptoms often persisted across childhood. The presence and number of these unexplained symptoms were linked to worse sleep, anxiety, and social communication scores.
• SLPNarrative Review2025A Frank Assessment of SHANK: Impacts of Pathogenic Variations in SHANK3 on Preclinical Models of Phelan McDermid Syndrome.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchSHANK3 mouse models show social, vocalization, repetitive, anxiety-like, motor and brain changes linked to Phelan McDermid Syndrome. No human therapy outcomes are reported.
• SLPOther2025Which Score for What? Operationalizing Standardized Cognitive Test Performance for the Assessment of Change.American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilitiesFor tracking cognitive change in people with moderate-to-profound intellectual disability, use the Stanford-Binet change sensitive score, not IQ or developmental quotient. IQ and developmental quotient scores can hide low ability and mix true change with age norms.
• SLPOther2025How do parents scaffold their autistic children's bilingual language interactions in everyday settings?Autism : the international journal of research and practiceIn five Spanish-English homes, mothers used more complex Spanish and mixed-language talk, and children produced longer utterances, more words, varied vocabulary, and talk about non-present events.
• SLPCohort2025Cortical emotional reactivity, caregiver-reported emotional control, and stuttering frequency in young children.Journal of fluency disordersAmong children who stutter, higher stuttering frequency was associated with greater brain reactivity to unpleasant images and poorer caregiver-reported emotional control. These are correlations from a small sample, not evidence that emotions cause stuttering or that treating them reduces it.
• SLPOther2025Morphological awareness and reading skill for deaf and hearing adults.Journal of deaf studies and deaf educationFor deaf adults reading English, morphological awareness strongly predicts reading comprehension, but only for those who already have high morphological skills. Hearing readers rely more on phonological awareness. This suggests deaf readers use visual word parts to infer meaning, not sound.
• SLPCohort2025Effects of Hearing Loss on Semantic Prediction: Delayed Prediction for Intelligible Speech When Listening Is Demanding.Ear and hearingHearing loss delays the ability to refine predictions during speech, especially when listening is demanding. While early predictions remain intact, narrowing down options takes longer. This suggests that difficult listening conditions may increase cognitive load by hindering the rapid processing of contextual cues.
• SLPOther2025The Roles of Selective Attention and Asymmetric Experience in Bilateral Speech Interference for Single-Sided Deafness Cochlear Implant and Vocoder Listeners.Ear and hearingPeople with one deaf ear who use a cochlear implant struggle to hear when a noise talker is in their good ear. This happens because they cannot focus on the implant side. It is a general attention problem, not damage from long-term asymmetry. The implant still helps overall.
• SLPOther2025Measurement of Spectro-Temporal Processing by Cochlear Implant Users: Effects of Stimulus Level and Validation of an Online Implementation.Ear and hearingFor Med-El cochlear implant users, the online STRIPES test is reliable and gives results comparable to lab testing. Volume level did not affect scores. The test did not significantly predict speech-in-noise performance, though the small sample size limits this conclusion.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2026Defining Severity Levels for Post-Stroke Upper Limb Motor Impairment and Activity Limitation: A Systematic Review.NeuroRehabilitationCurrent clinical language for post-stroke arm severity is inconsistent. Most studies use 'mild, moderate, severe' but define these terms differently, and cut-off scores on common tests like the Fugl-Meyer overlap significantly. This makes it difficult to compare patients or trials.
• SLPCohort2026Possible Clinical Predictors for Dysphagia in Head and Neck Cancer Patients after Surgery.Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica : official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP)Seven bedside checks for swallowing problems in head and neck cancer patients missed most cases. Sensitivity was too low to rely on them, so these signs should not be used alone to screen for dysphagia after surgery.
• SLPOther2026Socially oriented attention in young children with neurofibromatosis type 1: An eye-tracking study.Developmental medicine and child neurologyYoung children with NF1 were slower to look at people and objects of social interest than their peers. They missed early joint attention cues but caught up if given more time. Delayed attention was linked to higher autistic traits and poorer social functioning.
• SLPQualitative2026Voice-Assisted Technology for People With Parkinson's Disease Experiencing Speech and Voice Difficulties: Co-Designing Solutions Using Design Thinking.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesPeople with Parkinson's and therapists co-designed solutions to make smart speakers usable for speech therapy. They identified education gaps and requested specific features like prompts for volume, clearer feedback, and privacy controls to support home practice.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2026Influences on suicidality and suicide-prevention needs for the autistic community: Qualitative insights from multiple perspectives.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceParticipants linked autistic suicidality to societal stigma, masking, and unmet daily needs rather than autism itself. They recommended neurodiversity-affirming care, sensory supports, and addressing co-occurring conditions over standard talk therapy or social skills training.
• OTSLPQualitative2026Experiences of self-harm, suicidal ideation and mental health care among autistic youth.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic young people seeking help for self-harm or suicide described care that missed sensory and communication needs. They wanted written or nonverbal options, fewer social demands, and safety plans that reflected their real supports.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Significant differences in evaluation of disability and health (ICF) core sets between stroke rehabilitants and rehabilitation team during the first year.Journal of rehabilitation medicineStroke survivors rated their own abilities higher than their rehab team did, especially in thinking and daily tasks, at one month. By one year, these views aligned more closely. Survivors saw little change in their own function, while the team recorded significant improvements.
• SLPOther2026Recordability of the vestibular cerebellar evoked potential.International journal of audiologyThe vestibular cerebellar evoked potential is difficult to record reliably, appearing in fewer than 60% of healthy young adults. Responses were strongest at midline and contralateral scalp sites, with left-ear stimulation yielding larger amplitudes. Reference electrode choice had negligible impact.
• SLPSurvey2026Why do teachers with voice disorders keep teaching? Insights from applications of social capital motives.Logopedics, phoniatrics, vocologyTeachers who kept working with voice disorders prioritized maintaining their income above all else. Those with worse perceived voice quality or more frequent symptoms were less motivated by altruism or a sense of belonging, suggesting vocal strain erodes the emotional rewards of teaching.
• SLPOther2026Sources of Intelligibility of Distant Languages: An Empirical Study.Language and speechPeople can guess meanings of words in unknown languages better than chance. Success relies on linguistic affinity, cognates, phonological similarity, and word length agreement. Even distant languages like Japanese and Hindi yielded above-chance guesses, proving zero intelligibility is incorrect.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2026Explainability in AI-enabled medical neurotechnology: a scoping review.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationOnly 14 of 161 studies on closed-loop brain devices used explainable AI methods. Clinicians cannot currently rely on these tools to show why a device made a specific decision, as most algorithms remain opaque black boxes.
• SLPSurvey2025A Survey of Current Audiology Practice in Adult Cochlear Implant Programs and Its Impact on Access to Care.Ear and hearingHalf of surveyed audiologists reported wait times of four weeks or more for adult cochlear implant evaluations. Most recommended six follow-up visits in the first year, but telehealth was rarely used to replace routine in-person appointments. Manufacturer counseling did not shorten wait times.
• SLPPilot2025Using Pupillometry in Virtual Reality as a Tool for Speech-in-Noise Research.Ear and hearingPupil size measured inside a VR headset reliably tracked listening effort when the task got harder. However, simple virtual avatars watching the patient failed to change performance or effort compared to being alone. This proves the tech works for effort, but not yet for social presence.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025An elective two-week interdisciplinary acute rehabilitation program improves functional and speech outcomes in patients with Parkinson's disease.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesPatients with Parkinson's disease in a two-week inpatient program improved mobility, self-care, and voice. Gains were seen regardless of age, disease duration, or medication dose. No control group means natural progression or other factors cannot be ruled out.
• PTSLPCohort2025The Effects of Chronic Substance Misuse on the Auditory and Vestibular Systems: Preliminary Findings.Ear and hearingAdults with chronic substance misuse had poorer hearing across tested frequencies and more central balance abnormalities, including poor convergence, eye tracking, and tandem stance. Peripheral vestibular tests and speech-in-noise scores did not show clear group differences.
• SLPPilot2025Speech-in-Noise Ability and Signal to Noise Ratio Predict the Timing of Hearing-Impaired Listeners' Intertalker Saccades When Observing Conversational Turn-Taking: An Explorative Investigation.Ear and hearingHearing-impaired listeners with poorer speech-in-noise ability looked at the new speaker 100 milliseconds later than those with better ability. Eye movement timing did not change linearly with background noise levels, delaying at both the hardest and easiest settings.
• SLPMeta-Analysis2025Bibliometric analysis, systematic review of literature, and meta-analysis on the effect of amplification on voice production among teachers.Journal of communication disordersVoice amplification did not significantly reduce vocal strain metrics like pitch, loudness, or phonation time in teachers. Evidence remains inconclusive due to varied study designs and devices, so amplification alone is not a proven solution for voice disorders.
• SLPCohort2025Beyond Uniform Impairment: Investigating Declarative Memory Profiles in Nonspecific Mild Intellectual Disability Using Latent Profile Analysis.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRMost children with mild intellectual disability showed widespread memory deficits, but 25% performed in the average or high range. This challenges the assumption of uniform impairment. Assessors should look for individual strengths, particularly in learning and associative recall, rather than assuming global memory failure.
• SLPQualitative2025Identity formation in bimodal-bilingual children of Deaf adults (Codas).Journal of deaf studies and deaf educationBimodal-bilingual adults described forming identities not as Deaf, hearing or Coda, but as different from both groups. They reported early visual sensitivity, metalinguistic awareness and social empathy from growing up between sign and spoken languages.
• SLPCohort2026Prognosis prediction of patients with disorders of consciousness based on digital twin brain models.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAn EEG-based brain model predicted six-month consciousness outcome in 121 patients better than baseline diagnosis and traditional EEG features. It is not a treatment test and was not validated outside one coma centre.
• PTOTSLPPilot2026Expressive language and social communication abilities in children with spinal muscular atrophy type 1.Developmental medicine and child neurologyChildren with later-onset SMA type 1 said far more words than those with early onset. Four of 37 screened positive for autism traits, but many parents could not answer questions because motor impairments blocked the behaviours the test asks about.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2026Robot-assisted therapy following stroke: what effects on quality of life, cognitive and psychosocial outcomes? A systematic review.Journal of rehabilitation medicineRobot-assisted therapy after stroke often improved quality of life, cognition, and psychosocial outcomes in the short term, but effects rarely persisted after treatment ended. Most studies measured these as secondary outcomes, so the evidence is preliminary and inconsistent.