NCT04566731Completed
Treating Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) Using tDCS
Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Reveal Mechanisms of Language Loss and to Treat Progressive Aphasia Associated With FTD and Related Dementias
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 13 Nov 2025
Brief summary (registry, in English)
This is a double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover study in which subjects with the non-fluent/agrammatic and semantic variants of primary progressive aphasia (naPPA and svPPA, respectively) will undergo language testing and structural and functional brain imaging before and after receiving 10 semi-consecutive daily sessions of real or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) paired with modified constraint-induced language therapy (mCILT). Language testing and brain imaging will be repeated immediately after completion of and up-to 24 weeks following completion of treatment. The investigators will examine changes in language performance induced by tDCS + mCILT compared to sham 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
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 23 (actual)
- First submitted
- 31 Aug 2020
- Start date
- 1 Dec 2020
- Primary completion date
- 1 Jul 2024
- Lead sponsor
- University of Pennsylvania
- Diseases
- Frontotemporal dementia
- NCT number
- NCT04566731
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional
- Participants enrolled: 23
- From 1 Dec 2020 to the primary completion date, 1 Jul 2024
- 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.
Prior treatment
- Subjects with metallic objects in the face or head other than dental apparatus such as braces, fillings, and implants.
- Subjects with previous craniotomy or any breach in the skull
Other illness
- History of seizures or unexplained loss of consciousness
- Subjects with a history of other neurological disorder (stroke, TBI, Parkinson)
- Subjects with a history of small vessel disease
Other
- Subjects with Pacemakers or ICDs.
Who the study is looking for
- Presence of aphasia attributable to the semantic variant (svPPA) or non- fluent/agrammatic variant (naPPA) of Primary Progressive Aphasia.
- Must be a 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.