This $428,883 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173) seeks to examine the effects of individualized transcranial alternating current stimulation (TACS) on phonological short-term memory performance in stroke survivors with aphasia. The key objectives are to: 1) Determine the optimal TACS target locations and stimulation frequencies based on...
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) awarded a $610,725 Project Grant (CFDA 93.173 - Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders) to the University of Pittsburgh to conduct research on physiological mechanisms contributing to challenges faced by individuals with sensorineural hearing loss in understanding speech, especially in noisy environments. The research program aims to characterize the effects of distorted cochlear tonotopicity and...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173), aims to enhance language recovery and quality of life for stroke survivors with aphasia. The $429,000 award to The Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc. will support a study evaluating the use of excitatory theta burst stimulation (TBS) in combination with a linguistically-motivated therapy...
This Project Grant award of $760,283 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173), will fund research to evaluate the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with attention-focused language treatment to improve attention, language, and reduce post-stroke fatigue in individuals with aphasia. The research will be conducted by Syracuse University,...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), under CFDA Program 93.173 "Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders", will fund research to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying how older adults use linguistic context to facilitate speech recognition, especially in noisy environments. The $955,590 award to McMaster University in Canada will utilize cutting-edge neuroimaging techniques such as EEG and...
This federal Project Grant award of $457,935.00 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173), supports research to investigate a combination treatment for mild post-stroke aphasia. The study aims to evaluate the effects of Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation (CTBS) transcranial magnetic stimulation along with a Modified Constraint Induced Language Therapy (MCILT) in 24...
This is a Project Grant awarded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders federal grant program (CFDA 93.173). The $1,375,348 award will fund a study to assess the effects of continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS), a form of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), combined with a modified constraint-induced language therapy (MCILT) on language function in 63 subjects with subacute aphasia...
This Project Grant award for $583,125 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173) will fund a study to develop and assess a novel Speech Accessibility Index (SAI) that quantitatively evaluates children's access to language in real-world environments. The research will also examine the feasibility of using EEG to assess preschoolers' neurophysiological correlates of...
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) awarded a federal Project Grant under CFDA 93.173 "Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders" to The Medical University of South Carolina. The $477,660 grant, with a project period from September 1, 2024 to July 31, 2029, will investigate age-related differences in the brain processes underlying speech recognition, with the goal of improving listening difficulties experienced by older adults....
This $601,672 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), under the federal Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173), supports research to better understand the relationship between aging, brain integrity, and aphasia in stroke survivors. The key objectives are to: 1) examine how cardiovascular risk factors and protective cognitive factors influence premature brain aging and aphasia severity; 2)...
This Project Grant award of $1,330,971.00 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173) aims to investigate whether transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can enhance speech intelligibility and reduce listening effort in older adults who struggle with speech-on-speech (SOS) understanding.
The primary objectives are to determine if tACS can 1) improve SOS performance and reduce listening effort in this target population, and 2) enhance the benefits obtained from a computer-based auditory training program over the short and long term. The project will involve randomly assigning older adult participants with SOS difficulties to receive either active tACS or sham tACS, and then evaluating their performance on an SOS task and their listening effort levels before, during, and after completing a two-week at-home auditory training program. This exploratory research seeks to identify innovative approaches to improving communication abilities for individuals with and without hearing loss who experience challenges in complex listening environments.