Aphasia, Aphasia, Acquired, Stroke
Conditions
Keywords
non-invasive brain stimulation, transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), EEG
Brief summary
The goal of this study is to see if transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can be used to enhance language abilities in people with post-stroke aphasia. Participants will receive real and sham tACS in conjunction with various language tests. Researchers will compare the post-stroke aphasia group with aged matched controls to see if brain response to tACS differs between groups.
Detailed description
This research will investigate whether transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), a form of noninvasive brain stimulation, can be used to enhance language abilities in people with aphasia (PWA) due to stroke and healthy older adults when compared to placebo (sham) tACS. The investigators hypothesize that alpha vs. sham tACS will improve language abilities. In addition, the investigators propose that alpha vs. sham tACS will increase local alpha power as well as alpha-induced functional connectivity, and the degree to which alpha tACS increases will be related to the degree of language performance improvement. Finally, the investigators hypothesize that PWA will exhibit abnormalities in alpha-related activity when compared to matched controls, and aphasia severity will be associated with the degree of PWA dysfunction in alpha power and alpha-driven functional connectivity.
Interventions
DEVICEActive transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) is a device that applies a low-intensity electrical current to the brain through electrodes on the scalp.
Sponsors
University of Pennsylvania
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator)
Intervention model description
The proposed study is a within-subject, double-blind & sham-controlled
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 85 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
for Persons with Aphasia: 1. Presence of aphasia 2. Suffered a single, left hemisphere stroke 3. Stroke ≥6 months old (chronic) at the time of enrollment Inclusion Criteria for Healthy Controls: 1. Right-handedness 2. Must be able to understand the nature of the study, and give informed consent
Exclusion criteria
for Persons with Aphasia: 1. Inability to understand the nature of the study 2. Marked naming impairment 3. Impaired non-verbal, conceptual processing 4. History of significant medical or neurological disorder (other than stroke) 5. History of significant or poorly controlled psychiatric disorders 6. Current abuse of alcohol or drugs, prescription or otherwise 7. Nursing a child, pregnancy, or intent to become pregnant during the study 8. Clinically significant hearing loss 9. Contraindications to tACS 10. Contraindications to MRI
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Performance on the Blocked-Cyclic Naming (BCN) Task | 5-10 minutes after a single session of active (alpha tACS) and sham (fake tACS). | The BCN tasks involves naming a set of pictures repeatedly. Sets of pictures come from either the same semantic category (high competition condition; e.g., categorically related: "dog", "cat", "panda") or different semantic categories (low competition condition; e.g., unrelated: dog, eye, crib). |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTDaniela Sacchetti, MS
CONTACTDenise Harvey, PhD
Outcome results
None listed