Clinical Research Directory

Investigating Individual Differences in Speech Motor Skills in Neurotypical Speakers and Persons With Disordered Speech

This study aims to understand how people use different types of feedback to control their speech. When an individual speaks, the brain relies on several systems at the same time, such as sensory systems that monitor an individuals own voice and the movements of their speech muscles, and a motor system that builds and reads out learned motor patterns. The investigators are studying how these systems work together and how they differ across individuals. Investigators will test 90 adults between 18 and 50 years old, including people who stutter, people with dyslexia, and people with typical speech and reading development. Participants will complete several short speech tasks in which the sounds they hear or the movements of their jaw or larynx are briefly changed. These responses will be used to measure each person's speech motor skills and to estimate the settings of a computer model called "SimpleDIVA," which simulates how the brain controls speech. Participants will also complete an MRI scan so investigators can measure the structure and connectivity of different brain regions. These measures will help investigators understand how individual differences in the brain relate to the speech motor control skills we observe. Participants will also complete sessions with noninvasive brain stimulation (transcranial current stimulation, or tCS) to examine how stimulation of specific areas of the brain affects responses during the speech tasks. The knowledge gained from this study will help researchers understand why speech motor skills vary across people and how differences in neural function may contribute to conditions such as stuttering and dyslexia.

Dual Executive Function Training Package

Executive function (EF) refers to the cognitive processes that enable goal-directed regulation of thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. Two interrelated domains are commonly distinguished: "cool" EF, which involves abstract cognitive processes, and "hot" EF, which involves regulation in emotionally or motivationally charged contexts. Children with special educational needs (SENs) frequently show difficulties across both domains, yet most interventions target one in isolation. The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a dual EF training package for three of the most prevalent SENs groups: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), specific learning difficulties (SpLD), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A total of 288 primary school students aged 6-12 years with a diagnosis of ADHD, ASD, or SpLD will be recruited. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention or waitlist control group, stratified by diagnosis. Each intervention group (n = 48) will receive the dual EF training programme, while corresponding waitlist controls (n = 48) will receive it after the study. Pre- and post-intervention assessments will include neuropsychological tests of EF, teacher- and parent-reported behavioural ratings, and measures of disability impact, school satisfaction, and social participation.

Examining the Medium-term Effect on Non Inferiority of the Previous Training With the DMD Poppins Clinical for Cognitive, Musical Training in Addition to Bi-monthly Speech and Reading Therapy on Reading Writing Abilities of Pediatric Patients With SLD Reading VS Control Group

Poppins-02-b is an observational follow-up study examining the medium-term effect on non-inferiority of the previous training with the digital medical device (DMN) Poppins Clinical for cognitive and musical training in addition to bi-monthly speech and reading therapy sessions on the reading and writing abilities of pediatrics patients with specific learning disorders involving reading and/or writing deficits compared to a control group that received weekly speech and reading therapy sessions. Poppins-02-b is an ancillary study to Poppins-02 and consists of monitoring patients who participated in Poppins-02 study.

Evaluation of Speech Rhythm Training in Dyslexic Readers Aged 7 to 9 Years

Studies of dyslexia have shown altered oscillatory activity in the low gamma band (\~25-35 Hz) in the left auditory cortex. Neural oscillations around 30 Hz constitute the basic sampling rate of speech, from which the ability to form specific phonemic categories on which reading learning is based is derived. An alteration of the oscillatory activity at 30 Hz could therefore influence the ability of children to learn to read, and explain the reading deficit observed in children with a specific written language disorder. The objective of our study is to determine whether intensive rhythmic auditory stimulation applied during 30 sessions of 15 minutes spread over 6 weeks (5 sessions per week) can correct neural oscillations in the gamma-low band, allowing an improvement of phonemic categorization abilities, and thus the reading abilities of dyslexic readers aged 7 to 9 years. The long-term objective of this study is to test the therapeutic potential of auditory stimulation with speech rhythms for the treatment of reading disorders.

Reading and Stuttering

Dyslexia is a common neurodevelopmental condition, which manifests itself in the form of reading difficulties and occurs in 7-10% of the population (Peterson \& Pennington, 2012). As for dyslexia, it is one of the most common learning disorders and the most common cause of difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling. The global prevalence of dyslexia is estimated to be between 5% and 10% of the population, but it may be as high as 17% (Sprenger-Charolles et al., 2011). Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by involuntary, audible, or silent repetitions or prolongations of sounds or syllables, along with disturbances in the fluency of verbal phrases.Stuttering and dyslexia are two processing deficits that have an impact on a person's social and academic lives, especially as they usually affect the pediatric population more than adults. Even though they affect different domains, they have similar characteristics in their pathogenesis, epidemiology, and impact on life (Algaidy et al., 2023). The aim of the study will be to identify the prevelance of dyslexia in developmental stuttering.

Pai.ACT: AI-Driven ACT Chatbot for Mental Health Triage and Service Evaluation

Parents of children with special needs in Hong Kong often face limited psychological support, which can negatively impact the child rehabilitation process and the well-being of parent-child relationships. To address this gap, we have developed Pai.ACT, the first deep learning-based mental health advisory system for parents. Pai.ACT features an AI chatbot that integrates the counselling principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) through natural language processing, providing parents with a human-like voice-to-text experience. Using data from chatbot interactions, the Pai.ACT platform offers assessments regarding the individual's psychological inflexibility status and delivers stratified mental health interventions by: * Low-risk: Users access self-help ACT digital modules tailored to their specific psychological inflexibility processes. * Moderate-risk: In addition to the self-help modules, users receive 4-6 sessions of video-conferencing-based ACT interventions (45-60 minutes per session) conducted by our trained counseling team. * High-risk: Users are directed to specialized mental health services provided by collaborating units. The study includes a regional randomised controlled trial (RCT) in Hong Kong's Sha Tin District, in collaboration with the Shatin District Office. The goal of this regional study is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of combining AI-driven mental health support across all of Hong Kong. Focus group interviews will also explore parents' perceptions of Pai.ACT and help identify the most effective service model for scaling its use. Pai.ACT provides accessible and comprehensive mental health services to Chinese-speaking parents, helping to alleviate the psychological burden of caregiving. By integrating mental health support with child rehabilitation services and non-governmental organisations, Pai.ACT has the potential to enhance family caregivers' well-being, reduce stigma associated with special needs children, and promote more significant mental health awareness in Chinese-speaking communities.

A Game-based Neurodevelopmental Assessment for Young Children

The aim of this study is to evaluate a novel tablet game-based neurodevelopmental assessment tool for young children aged 3 to 8 years old. The study's main aims are: (1) to determine whether the novel tablet-game based assessment tool can accurately differentiate children's neurodevelopmental status based on their performance on the game and (2) assess the validity of the game-based neurodevelopment assessment tool. The study aims to recruit 590 children who are 'typically' developing and/or have a diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Specific Learning Disorder, or a Communication Disorder. All participants will complete the tablet game-based assessment which aims to assess a range of neuropsychological functions including attention, memory, language, motor, executive functions and social-emotional skills. Parents/carers of participants will also complete a demographic questionnaire and the Adaptive Behaviour System - Third Edition (ABAS-3), which is a questionnaire that assesses a child's development. Some participants will be re-tested on the tablet game-based assessment approximately 2 weeks after the first tablet game-based assessment to ensure the game's validity.

A Strength-Based Intervention to Improve Job Interview Skills in Neurodiverse Young Adults

the investigators are looking to evaluate the effectiveness of a strength-based program in improving job interview skills in neurodiverse young adults. This program is designed to help participants understand and speak to others about their personal qualities and abilities. The investigators are examining the effects of this program in young adults who may have difficulty with job interviews, and who may want to improve these skills. Some of these young adults have received special education services in the past for learning differences, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or dyslexia.

Dyslexics' Visual Attention Field

dyslexia is often considered like a phonological deficit but some researches show that a visual attention (V-A) deficit can occur in dyslexia. The investigator want to show that some dyslexics have a reduced V-A field in visual search when the investigator use separable feature (letter-like). If the investigator demonstrate that, he will show that V-A deficit can be transpose to an ability acquired before reading, the visual search. Therefore, the V-A deficit can't be a consequence of reading problem but a cause of it for some dyslexics. The investigator could imagine an earlier diagnosis for children at risk to develop dyslexia and make reeducation more specific for the deficit observed.