# Neuromodulation to Augment Acute and Subacute Aphasia Treatment

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · 2020 · $401,202

## Abstract

Summary: Project 2
Aphasia, or impairment of language, is one of 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 (SALT) can be
helpful in restoring language function, but recovery is often incomplete. Recent studies indicate that the
effectiveness of SALT can be augmented by concurrent Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), a
noninvasive, non-painful, electrical stimulation of the brain. It is believed that tDCS boosts neural plasticity that
underlies recovery with SALT. The optimum time to apply tDCS with SALT is unknown. Animal studies
indicate that neuroplasticity is greatest in the first few weeks to months after stroke, but that the duration of
neuroplasticity (the window of time during which undamaged areas might be able to assume functions of the
damaged areas) might be extended by administration of selective serotonin reuptake inhbitors (SSRIs). With
this proposal, we aim to identify to optimal time to apply anodal tDCS (A-tDCS) along with SALT. We will
compare the effects of A-tDCS plus SALT to sham plus SALT delivered by computer over 15 sessions in
“subacute” (beginning at <3 months), and compare these effects to those reported with the same interventions
in chronic stroke. We will evaluate the effects of interventions on naming untrained objects (one of the most
common deficits in aphasia) as well as the effects on content, efficiency, and word-retrieval of narrative
speech, quality of life, and disability. We will evaluate the influence of treatment and demographic variables,
such as electrode placement, time from stroke to initiation of treatment, lesion volume, aphasia and stroke
severity, and education on outcome. We will also evaluate the influence of SSRI use since stroke onset on the
effectiveness of SALT with and without A-tDCS in subacute stroke. We will also test the hypothesis that SSRI
use eliminates the influence of delaying onset of treatment (within the first three months) by extending the
duration of neuroplasticity after stroke. Finally, we will evaluate the effects of A-tDCS 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, using resting state functional connectivity MRI before
any intervention and after A-tDCS or sham with SALT. This aim may shed light on the mechanisms of how A-
tDCS affects language, and/or how language recovers with or without A-tDCS. We will test our hypotheses in
a double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial. 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 A-tDCS vs sham with con...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9889938
- **Project number:** 5P50DC014664-05
- **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:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $401,202
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9889938

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9889938, Neuromodulation to Augment Acute and Subacute Aphasia Treatment (5P50DC014664-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-03 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9889938. Licensed CC0.

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