NCT04963803Completed

Improving Aphasia Using Electrical Brain Stimulation

Improving Aphasia Outcomes Through tDCS-Mediated Attention Management

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 30 Jan 2026

Brief summary (registry, in English)

Language and communication are essential for almost every aspect of human life, but for people who have aphasia, a language processing disorder that can occur after stroke or brain injury, even simple conversations can become a formidable challenge. Speech and language therapy can help people recover their language ability, but often requires months or even years of therapy before a person is able to overcome these challenges. This research will investigate non-invasive brain stimulation as a way to enhance the effects of speech and language therapy, which may ultimately lead to better and faster recovery from stroke and aphasia. The investigators hypothesize that participants with aphasia who receive speech and language therapy paired with active electrical brain stimulation will improve significantly more on a language comprehension task than those who receive speech and language therapy paired with sham stimulation.

Status (registry): Completed
Study type: Interventional
Enrollment: 23 (actual)
First submitted: 21 Jun 2021
Start date: 12 Jul 2021
Primary completion date: 15 Nov 2024
Lead sponsor: Syracuse University
Diseases: Stroke
NCT number: NCT04963803

What you commit to

Study type: Interventional
Participants enrolled: 23
From 12 Jul 2021 to the primary completion date, 15 Nov 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

Currently undergoing speech and language therapy targeting auditory comprehension or attention.
Metal implants in the head.

Other illness

Diagnosis or history of neurological disorder other than stroke.
Diagnosis or history of psychiatric disorder.
History of seizures within the past 6 months.
\<6 months post-stroke (however, if this is only exclusionary criterion met, participant can be re-evaluated at the 6-month mark if still interested in the study)
Onset of aphasia related to etiology other than left hemisphere stroke.

Age

Younger than 18 years old.

Other

Pregnant.
Currently has a skull fracture.
Damaged brain tissue includes left hemisphere dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
No aphasia or severe aphasia.
Cognitive ability below functional limits.
Unable to pass vision and/or hearing screening with use of corrective aids.
Unwilling to allow audio-recording of study sessions.

Who the study is looking for

18 years or older.
No diagnosis of neurological disorder (other than stroke).
No diagnosis of psychiatric disorder.
No seizure within the past 6 months.
Not pregnant.
In chronic phase of recovery, defined as at least 6 months post-stroke.
Not undergoing speech and language therapy targeting auditory comprehension or attention for the duration of the study.
No metal implants in the head.
No unhealed skull fractures.
Onset of aphasia related to left hemisphere stroke.
Damaged brain tissue from stroke does not overlap with left hemisphere dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Mild to moderate aphasia.
Cognitive ability minimally within functional limits.
Able to pass vision and hearing screening (with use of corrective aids if needed; eyeglasses, hearing aids).
Willing to allow audio-recording of study sessions.

Age in the registry: 18 years to - · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (1)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.

Site	City	Country	Site status
Syracuse University Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status	Syracuse	United States	Unknown status

This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.