NCT04046991CompletedPhase 2
Treating Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) Using High-definition tDCS
Treating Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) and Elucidating Neurodegeneration in the Language Network Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 19 Oct 2026
Brief summary (registry, in English)
This is a double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover study in which subjects with the non-fluent/agrammatic and logopenic variants of primary progressive aphasia (naPPA and lvPPA, respectively) will undergo language testing and structural and functional brain imaging before and after receiving 10 semi-consecutive daily sessions of real or sham high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) paired with modified constraint-induced language therapy (mCILT). Language testing and brain imaging will be repeated immediately after completion of and 3 months following completion of treatment. The 3-month follow-up will be the primary endpoint. The investigators will examine changes in language performance induced by HD-tDCS + mCILT compared to sham HD-tDCS + mCILT. The investigators will also use network science to analyze brain imaging (fMRI) data to identify network properties associated with baseline PPA severity and tDCS-induced changes in performance. This study will combine knowledge gained from our behavioral, imaging, and network data in order to determine the relative degrees to which these properties predict whether persons with PPA will respond to intervention.
- Status (registry)
- Completed
- Phase (registry)
- Phase 2
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 76 (actual)
- First submitted
- 12 Jul 2019
- Start date
- 17 Aug 2020
- Primary completion date
- 30 Jun 2025
- Lead sponsor
- University of Pennsylvania
- Diseases
- Frontotemporal dementia
- NCT number
- NCT04046991
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional · Phase 2
- Participants enrolled: 76
- From 17 Aug 2020 to the primary completion date, 30 Jun 2025
- 1 site in 1 country
- Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them
Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.
Who cannot take part
Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.
Other illness
- Presence of additional neurological illness such as stroke or traumatic brain injury
- Diagnosis of epilepsy or reoccurening seizures
- Small vessel disease
Other
- Pacemaker or ICDs
- Craniotomy or skull breech
Who the study is looking for
- Presence of aphasia attributable to nonfluent agrammatic PPA (naPPA) or logopenic variant PPA (lvPPA)
- High school education (or more)
- Must be able to understand the nature of the study, and give informed consent
- Native English speaker
Age in the registry: 45 years to 80 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers
Sites (1)
Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.
| Site | City | Country | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Pennsylvania Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | Philadelphia | United States | Unknown status |
This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.