An interventional study of transcranial direct current stimulation and Sham tDCS in Aphasia, sponsored by Jean-Marie Annoni. Completed at 3 sites in Switzerland. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2017-10-26.
Sponsored by Jean-Marie Annoni · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) influences lexical access and language production. The experimental paradigm will assess the impact of prefrontal stimulation by tDCS versus sham tDCS (S-tDCS) over the PFC of patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia during three language production tasks and a nonverbal executive functions task.
Background:
Language processing is a complex brain function supported by a large network, including domain-specific language areas as well as domain-general cognitive-control networks (Friederici \& Gierhan, 2013). Noninvasive brain stimulation, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), is increasingly being used as a promising therapeutic tool for psychiatric and neurological diseases (Tortella et al., 2015; Flöel, 2014). In the language domain, several studies revealed that tDCS over languagespecific areas induces changes in cortical function that enhances the recovery of language abilities in patients with post-stroke aphasia (Torres, Drebing \& Hamilton, 2013; Monti et al., 2013). Beneficial effects of tDCS have also been found for stimulation over more domain-general cognitive control regions. Although research on non-invasive brain stimulation and aphasia reveals promising results, studies investigating the modulation of cognitive control-networks on lexical access are rare. Given the importance of a successful interplay between prefrontal and domain-specific language areas, possible therapeutic effects of tDCS over the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in aphasia can be of high value for rehabilitation and basic research.
Procedure:
A planned total of 30 patients will be included. In a first visit, the severity of aphasia, the medical history as well as inclusion/exclusion criteria will be evaluated. After this visit, patients will undergo two tDCS sessions (one tDCS and one S-tDCS session) with a one week interval between the sessions. Each session consists of an online (during stimulation) and an offline assessment (within 30 minutes after stimulation). Three language tasks and a nonverbal executive function task will be conducted online as well as offline in each of the two sessions (tDCS and S-tDCS).
372 studies on the registry are indexed under Aphasia; 90 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 19 is below the median of 30 across 322 interventional studies indexed under Aphasia.
Browse Aphasia studies →Jean-Marie Annoni is the lead sponsor of 3 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
tDCS
Device: transcranial direct current stimulation
S-tDCS
Device: Sham tDCS
In tDCS, the prefrontal cortex is stimulated during 20minutes through a weak constant electric current (1-2 mA) through two electrodes in a non-invasive and painless manner.
S-tDCS refers to a control condition in which the subject will receive a brief current in the beginning in order to induce a similar sensation on the scalp as in tDCS, and then the stimulator remains off for the rest of the stimulation time.
Language production
Picture naming task, repetition task and verbal fluency task
Time frame: up to 30 min
Nonverbal executive functions task
Time frame: up to 30 min
Plan to share: No
The record gives a start of May 2016, a primary completion of Mar 2017 and a completion of Sep 2017. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.
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This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2017. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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