# Escitalopram and Language Intervention for Subacute Aphasia (ELISA)

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · 2022 · $450,197

## Abstract

Project Summary (Project 2)
Aphasia, or language impairment, is among the most devastating problems after left hemisphere stroke,
because it can interfere with an individual’s social interactions, ability to return to work, and even simple daily
activities, such as returning email or answering the phone. Speech and language treatment (SLT) can be
helpful in restoring language function, but recovery is often incomplete. Recent studies indicate that motor and
cognitive recovery after stroke can be augmented with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). With
this proposal, we aim to evaluate the effect of an SSRI, escitalopram, given daily for 3 months after stroke, on
augmenting language recovery. We will compare the effects of escitalopram plus SLT to placebo plus SLT in a
double blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT). SLT will consist of “standard” language therapy for two
months, followed by a daily, computer-delivered naming therapy (CoDeNT) over 15 sessions beginning at two
months. We selected this SLT to enable us to compare the effects of escitalopram to the effect of transcranial
direct current stimulation (tDCS) versus sham with the same SLT, in our ongoing study of tDCS plus aphasia
treatment in subacute stroke. We will evaluate the effect of escitalopram on naming untrained objects (one of
the most common deficits in aphasia), and secondarily, its effects on morphosyntactic production, content and
efficiency of narrative speech, quality of life, and disability. We will evaluate the influence of treatment and
demographic variables, lesion volume, white matter disease, aphasia and stroke severity, and education on
outcome. Based on recent studies from the Center for the Study of Aphasia Recovery and from the literature,
we will also identify neural mechanisms that may mediate the effects of language recovery with treatment,
including the influence of abnormal polymorphisms in the brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. We
will also evaluate the effects of escitalopram on “functional connectivity” at rest (or correlations in activation
between regions of “the language network” in the brain versus other networks in the brain, such as the motor
network), comparing resting state functional connectivity MRI before any intervention and after escitalopram or
placebo with SLT. This aim may shed light on the mechanisms of how escitalopram affects language, and/or
how language recovers with or without medication, independently on the effects of escitalopram on depression.
We will test our hypotheses in a RCT, Escitalopram for Language Improvement in Subacute Aphasia (ELISA).
Neither the participant with aphasia nor the investigator will be unmasked until the end of the study. The long-
term aim of this study is to provide the basis for a Phase III randomized controlled trial of either escitalopram,
anodal-tDCS, or both with concurrent SLT for treatment of subacute aphasia. This study will help us determine
which intervention(s) is l...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10390287
- **Project number:** 5P50DC014664-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Argye E. Hillis
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $450,197
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-04-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10390287

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10390287, Escitalopram and Language Intervention for Subacute Aphasia (ELISA) (5P50DC014664-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10390287. Licensed CC0.

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