tACS to Enhance Language Abilities
Stroke, Aphasia, Acquired, Aphasia
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Stroke focused on measuring non-invasive brain stimulation, transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), EEG
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria for Persons with Aphasia: Presence of aphasia Suffered a single, left hemisphere stroke Stroke ≥6 months old (chronic) at the time of enrollment Inclusion Criteria for Healthy Controls: Right-handedness Must be able to understand the nature of the study, and give informed consent Exclusion criteria for Persons with Aphasia: Inability to understand the nature of the study Marked naming impairment Impaired non-verbal, conceptual processing History of significant medical or neurological disorder (other than stroke) History of significant or poorly controlled psychiatric disorders Current abuse of alcohol or drugs, prescription or otherwise Nursing a child, pregnancy, or intent to become pregnant during the study Clinically significant hearing loss Contraindications to tACS Contraindications to MRI Exclusion Criteria for Healthy Controls Diagnosis of a neurodegenerative disease or clinically significant cognitive complaint Any unrelated neurologic or physical condition that impairs communication ability History of unrelated neurological conditions including but not limited to traumatic brain injury, stroke, or small vessel disease that has resulted in a neurologic deficit Any additional neurological condition that would likely reduce the safety of study participation, including central nervous system (CNS) vasculitis, intracranial tumor, intracranial aneurysm, multiple sclerosis or arteriovenous malformations A medically unstable cardiopulmonary or metabolic disorder Terminal illness associated with survival <12 months Major active psychiatric illness that may interfere with required study procedures or treatments as determined by the enrolling physician Current abuse of alcohol or drugs, prescription or otherwise Contraindications to tACS Contraindications to MRI
Sites / Locations
- University of Pennsylvania
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Active Comparator
Placebo Comparator
real-tACS
sham-tACS
The active stimulation will consist of an alternating current delivered in the alpha frequency band with a peak-to-peak intensity of 4 milliamps (mA) for 20 minutes. Participants will complete sentence completion and verb generation task during stimulation.
Sham stimulation involves the delivery of 60 seconds of the actual stimulation waveform ("ramp up") which is then gradually reduced to 0 milliamps (mA) ("ramp down"). Participants will complete sentence completion and verb generation task during stimulation.