Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Aphasia Treatment

Summary

People with post-stroke aphasia are left with some degree of chronic deficit for which current rehabilitative treatments are variably effective. This study investigates the behavioral and neural effects of multiple consecutive cerebellar tDCS sessions coupled with computerized naming therapy in stroke survivors with aphasia.

Conditions

• Stroke

Interventions

DEVICE

Anodal or Cathodal tDCS

2 mA or Anodal or Cathodal tDCS stimulation is induced between 5cm X5 cm saline soaked sponges where one sponge (anode in group anode or cathode in group cathode) is placed on the right cerebellum. The stimulation will be delivered at an intensity of 2 mA in a ramp-like fashion for a maximum of 20 minutes.

DEVICE

Sham

2 mA of Anodal tDCS or Cathodal tDCS is induced between two 5cm X 5cn saline soaked sponges where one sponge (anode in group Anode and cathode in group Cathode) is placed on the right cerebellum. Ramping up of the current to 2 mA occurs over 15-30 seconds to allow participants to habituate to the tingling sensation. Then, the current will be ramped back down to 0 mA in the sham condition. Termination of the stimulation after the ramping up process is generally undetectable, and the brief duration of stimulation yields no functional effects.

BEHAVIORAL

Computerized naming therapy

Computer delivered naming treatment requires matching (heard and seen being produced by the speaker) with pictures depicting common objects. It is run on a laptop computer with headphones and 2 large response buttons. During treatment, a picture appears on the laptop screen for 2 seconds. Then, a video of the speaker's face below the nose is presented on the screen saying a word that either matches or does not match the picture. The participant is instructed to press a green response button if the word matches the picture and press the red button if the word does not match the picture.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

  collaborator NIH

• Johns Hopkins University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Rajani Sebastian, PhD, CCC-SLP · Johns Hopkins University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

100 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-09-19

Primary Completion

2022-05-20

Completion

2022-05-20

Countries

• United States

Study Locations