# AphasiaBank: A Shared Database for the Study of Aphasic Communication

> **NIH NIH R01** · CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $342,975

## Abstract

AphasiaBank is a shared database of multimedia interactions for the study of
communication in aphasia. The goal of this work is the improvement of patient-
oriented treatment of aphasia. To reach that goal, we must solidify the empirical
database supporting our understanding of communication in aphasia. Our six
specific aims are:
1. Protocol database development. We will continue to expand the core
 database to include additional participants, languages, bilingual types, and
 clinical profiles (severe aphasia, RHD, dementia, AOS, PPA, and PPAOS).
2. Analysis Automation. We will construct tools for automatic computation of
 scales for clinical diagnosis and the measurement of recovery processes.
 Using these new measures and the growing database, we will work with
 consortium members to develop new approaches to assessment, diagnosis,
 and classification.
3. Johnny Appleseed. We will disseminate the data, tools, and methods
 through personal contact, workshops, manuals, tutorials, collaborative
 commentary, journal publications, and downloads over the Internet. We will
 construct materials for training and teaching. We will place particular
 emphasis on dissemination of these tools to institutions serving minority
populations.
4. Cross-disorder comparisons. We will link the English AphasiaBank
 database to the growing databases in the DementiaBank, TBIBank, and RHD
 projects, as well as new data in AphasiaBank for AOS, PPA, and PPAOS.
5. Recovery and treatment evaluation. We will continue retesting of PWAs to
 evaluate the nature of recovery in the chronic period. We will evaluate the
 effects of programs such as teletherapy, script learning and repetition, and
 group conversation programs.
6. Functional Communication. We will develop methods for measuring and
 evaluating the ways in which people with aphasia, including those with severe
 impairments, achieve communication through gesture, conversational
 scaffolding, and augmentative communication devices.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9934867
- **Project number:** 5R01DC008524-14
- **Recipient organization:** CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** BRIAN MACWHINNEY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $342,975
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2007-05-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9934867

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9934867, AphasiaBank: A Shared Database for the Study of Aphasic Communication (5R01DC008524-14). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9934867. Licensed CC0.

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