Early language and thinking changes in older African American adults and primary progressive aphasia
Official title: Early Detection and Treatment of Emerging Cognitive-Linguistic Impairment in Minority Cognitive Aging and Primary Progressive Aphasia
Funded at Temple Univ of the Commonwealth · NIH-11289462 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks for early changes in speech and thinking by recording natural speech and measuring pupil responses in older African American adults at risk for dementia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Temple Univ of the Commonwealth NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2014 |
| Project end | January 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $627,796 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DC013063-13 |
| Project ID | NIH-11289462 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Older African American adults who are worried about memory or language changes or who are at elevated risk for dementia are the ideal candidates for this study.
✕Less likely to help
People without memory or language concerns or those with conditions unrelated to language changes may not get direct benefit from this research.
What this research studies
If you join, you'll tell short spoken stories and do simple listening tasks while researchers record your language and measure how your pupils change during speaking and listening. They will collect these natural speech samples and pupil measurements across visits over about five years. The team will build age-based norms for language content and pupil dynamics and track changes in semantic memory and executive thinking. Their focus is on finding early language-related signs of dementia in an underserved African American community.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: This work could help spot language-related dementia earlier in underserved African American adults, allowing earlier support and treatment planning.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work shows language changes can signal dementia, but combining natural speech samples with pupil-response measurements in an underserved African American cohort is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Temple Univ of the Commonwealth
Philadelphia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Reilly, James Joseph — Temple Univ of the Commonwealth
- Study coordinator: Reilly, James Joseph
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.