Written by Clare Jones (B Occ Thy), Director, Medirecruit

Recent research by Portia N. Washington, Sarah Arnett, Emily B. Myers, and Jennifer Mozeiko, published in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (2026, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 546–555), highlights the importance of the time of day when aphasia therapy is delivered. The study investigated whether naming training conducted in the morning versus the evening influenced retention of newly learned words in individuals with chronic post-stroke aphasia.

The study included 13 participants at least one year post-stroke, who completed online confrontational naming training with stimuli tailored to each individual. Their progress was measured through multiple posttests, alongside standard assessments such as the Boston Naming Test and the Quick Aphasia Battery.

The results showed that words trained in the evening were retained more consistently over 24 hours, whereas words trained in the morning showed significant decline. Although overall naming accuracy was similar between morning and evening sessions, the researchers suggest that sleep may help consolidate language learning, consistent with broader research on memory and learning.

For clinicians, these findings highlight the potential value of considering session timing when planning aphasia therapy. Scheduling sessions later in the day may help improve retention and support better long-term outcomes for clients.

Reference:
Washington, P. N., Arnett, S., Myers, E. B., & Mozeiko, J. (2026). Word learning in aphasia: Does time of day matter? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 35(2), 546–555. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_AJSLP-25-0012