Recursive Self-feedback Improved Speech Fluency in Two Patients with Chronic Nonfluent Aphasia.
Gerald C Imaezue, Ofer Tchernichovski, Mira Goral
PMID 38894858WHAT IT FOUND
Two patients with chronic nonfluent aphasia improved speaking rate and reduced initiation delay after self-directed script practice.
A recursive self-feedback method worked as well as standard control training, but neither was superior. This pilot does not prove one approach is better.
Key findings
01Both recursive self-feedback and control training improved speaking rate and speech initiation latency in the two participants.
02Improvements generalized to untrained scripts, though one participant did not improve initiation latency after control training.
03Recursive self-feedback effect sizes were slightly stronger than control training for speaking rate and latency in both participants.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only two participants were studied, so results cannot be generalized. No maintenance phase was assessed, so it is unknown if gains lasted after treatment. The control training lacked human clinician feedback, making it a weak comparison to standard care. Participants had mild-to-moderate aphasia and no significant apraxia, so it is unknown if this works for more severe cases. The study did not control for possible vocal or subvocal rehearsal before recording.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing financial interests or personal relationships.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that recursive self-feedback is superior to standard script training. Both treatments improved outcomes, and the study lacked a true active control with clinician interaction. The findings are preliminary and based on only two individuals.