# Personalized Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Constraint Induced Language Therapy to Treat Mild Post-Stroke Aphasia

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2024 · $457,935

## Abstract

Project Summary
Although mild post-stroke aphasia is often disabling, there are no accepted treatments for this condition.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in conjunction with Speech-Language Therapy, has been
demonstrated to improve language function in subjects with moderate to severe chronic aphasia. We propose
to study the effects of continuous Theta Burst Stimulation (a type of TMS) combined with a modified form of
Constraint Induced Language Therapy (mCILT) in 24 subjects with chronic, mild (operationally defined as
Western Aphasia Battery – Revised Aphasia Quotient >85) post-stroke aphasia. Subjects will be randomized in
a 2:1 ratio to cTBS with mCILT or sham cTBS with mCILT. After pre-treatment evaluation, subjects will receive
10 days of treatment; post-treatment evaluations will be performed 3-5 days and again at 2 and 4 months after
the completion of treatment. We will use electrical field modelling to personalize stimulation intensity for each
subject. Change from baseline to 4 months post-treatment on measures of language performance previously
demonstrated to distinguish people with mild, post-stroke aphasia from neurotypical will serve as the primary
outcome measure. A secondary aim is to explore the effects of the treatment on non-linguistic cognitive
functions and assess their role in the genesis of the communication impairment in mild aphasia.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11058156
- **Project number:** 1R21DC021833-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** H BRANCH COSLETT
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $457,935
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-19 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11058156

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11058156, Personalized Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Constraint Induced Language Therapy to Treat Mild Post-Stroke Aphasia (1R21DC021833-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11058156. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*