# Laying the Groundwork for Personalized Medicine in Aphasia Therapy: Genetic an Cognitive Predictors of Restorative Treatment Response

> **NIH NIH R01** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $464,241

## Abstract

Project Summary
Incomplete understanding of patient-specific factors that determine whether someone will
respond well to language therapy after stroke limits the development of methods to target or
account for sources of variability. There is a strong likelihood that genetics play a role in
language recovery after stroke, but very little research has been dedicated to investigating this
link. The long-term goal of this line of work is to maximize response to aphasia therapy by
incorporating patient-specific factors into decisions related to treatment planning. The overall
objective of this application is to identify patterns of patient-specific factors including two
candidate genes and cognitive skills that show a relationship with treatment outcomes. The
central hypothesis is that there will be a relationship between ApoE and BDNF genotypes, and
working memory on stimulus generalization. The rationale for the proposed project is that the
identification of factors that impact treatment responsiveness will allow for better estimation of
prognosis, improved triage of individuals into appropriate therapy regimens and direct targeting
of cognitive factors to maximize behavioral gains. The two specific aims of the project are to
determine the degree to which (1) ApoE and BDNF genotypes influence how individuals with
aphasia respond to therapy, and (2) working memory abilities are related to stimulus acquisition
and stimulus generalization after anomia therapy. Individuals with chronic post-stroke aphasia
will undergo cognitive and language assessment, and provide a saliva sample for genetic
analysis prior to participating in a cued picture-naming therapy for anomia. The expected
outcomes are to integrate cognitive scores and genotypes for BDNF and ApoE into formulating
probabilities of individual patient responsiveness to restorative therapy. This contribution is
expected to be significant because it will allow for more informed clinical decision making and
better allocation of resources to appropriate treatments, thereby making advances in the field
toward more personalized medicine, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all clinical approach. The
proposed research is innovative, in the applicants' opinions, because it represents a substantive
departure from the status quo by quantifying sources of genetic and cognitive variability that
may influence responsiveness to restorative therapy, which the applicants propound can be
used both clinically and in research to improve patient outcomes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10242811
- **Project number:** 5R01DC017711-03
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Stacy M Harnish
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $464,241
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10242811

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10242811, Laying the Groundwork for Personalized Medicine in Aphasia Therapy: Genetic an Cognitive Predictors of Restorative Treatment Response (5R01DC017711-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10242811. Licensed CC0.

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