Proper name anomia, amongst other language impairments, is common in patients with dementia and can be troublesome for patients’ quality of life and their relationships with loved ones. Alex Leff, MBBS, BSc, PhD, FRCP, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK, introduces an ongoing Phase II trial testing the efficacy of a digital confrontation naming therapy app. The Gotcha! app is based on the principles of errorless learning, with patients training one face per day for 6 weeks. Free naming ability is tested weekly prior to the intervention and during therapy. To date, a significant improvement in free naming ability has been demonstrated at the group level. Prof. Leff highlights the limitations of the group analysis, which masks the heterogeneity in response between individuals. For this reason, single case Tau-U analysis is also being employed in the trial. Around one third of patients are showing statistically significant improvements based on the within subject analyses. Recruitment is ongoing and further quantitative and qualitative analyses will be conducted on the full data set. This interview took place at the Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) Conference 2023 in Aberdeen, UK.
For more information of the Gotcha! study: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/icn/gotcha
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