Remotely Supervised Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA)

Measure of feasibility.

Time frame: Week 4

Measurement of patient-reported communicative functioning in aphasia. Scores are presented as T-Scores that range from 0 to 100 with 50 representing the mean, with a standard deviation of ±10 indicating greater/less than average; higher T-scores indicate greater functional communication skills.

Time frame: Baseline, Month 6

Measures confrontational word retrieval in individuals with aphasia or other language disturbance. Consists of 15 line-drawn pictures presented in order of difficulty from easiest (e.g., house) to most difficult (e.g., palette). Participants have 20 seconds to name each item correctly with a cueing hierarchy. The total score is the sum of correct responses and ranges from 0 to 15; higher scores indicate greater confrontational word retrieval abilities.

Time frame: Baseline, Month 6

The COWAT is verbal fluency test that measures spontaneous production of words belonging to the same category or beginning with some designated letter. The participants' task is to produce as many words as possible that begin with the given letter (F, A, or S) within a 1-minute time period. The total score is the total number of acceptable words produced for all three letters. The lowest possible score is zero, meaning no words could be produced. There is no limit to the higher end of the scale given that participants can produce as many words as possible for each of the three letters. Higher scores indicate greater word retrieval and better cognitive function.

Time frame: Baseline, Month 6

10-item measurement of symptoms, functioning, and healthcare-related quality of life. The raw score is the sum of responses and is converted to a T-score that has a population mean score of 50 with a standard deviation of 10; higher scores indicate better QOL.

Time frame: Baseline, Month 6

35-item measurement of the perceived ability to perform one's usual social roles and activities. Each item is rated on a Likert scale ranging from 5 (never) to 1 (always). The raw score is the sum of responses and is converted to a T-score that has a population mean score of 50 with a standard deviation of 10; higher scores indicate greater ability to perform social roles and activities.

Time frame: Baseline, Month 6

Assessment of language function. Includes eight subtests, each of which comprise sets of items that probe different language domains, vary in difficulty, and are scored with a graded system to maximize the informativeness of each item. The total scores range from 0 to 10, where: * 0.00-4.99 = Severe Aphasia * 5.00-7.49 = Moderate Aphasia * 7.50-8.89 = Mild Aphasia * 8.90-10.00 = No Aphasia

Time frame: Baseline, Month 6

39-item assessment of quality of life among individuals with aphasia. Items are ranked on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (Couldn't do it at all) to 5 (No trouble at all). The total score is the average score of all items and ranges from 1 to 5; higher scores indicate greater quality of life.

Time frame: Baseline, Month 6

At baseline participants were shown photos of common items and assessed for spontaneous naming of each item. Thirty items were then selected for participants to be trained on, and 30 items served as the control word naming list. At study end, participants were assessed on their ability to spontaneously name the target words without the need for cueing.

Time frame: Week 4

At baseline participants were shown photos of common items and assessed for spontaneous naming of each item. Thirty items were then selected for participants to be trained on, and 30 items served as the control word naming list. At study end, participants were assessed on their ability to spontaneously name the target words without the need for cueing.

Time frame: Week 4