tACS to Enhance Language Abilities

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Aphasia; Stroke; Aphasia, Acquired
• Interventions: Device: Active transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)

• Registration Number: NCT06092814
• Lead Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania

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.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2023-09-28
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-10-17
• Study First Posted: 2023-10-23
• Status Verified: 2024-07
• Study Start: 2024-07-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-07-24
• Last Update Posted: 2024-07-25
• Primary Completion: 2028-08-31
• Study Completion: 2028-08-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 120

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
sham-tACS	Active transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)	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.
real-tACS	Active transcranial alternating current stimulation (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.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
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).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Pennsylvania; 🇺🇸 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States