# Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Augment Chronic Aphasia Treatment

> **NIH NIH R00** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $236,336

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Aphasia is one of the leading causes of disability following stroke. Individuals with post-stroke aphasia
are left with some degree of chronic deficit for which current rehabilitative treatments are variably effective. A
small growing body of evidence suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may be useful for
enhancing the effects of behavioral aphasia treatment. The candidate proposes a comprehensive training plan
that seeks to expand her understanding of brain plasticity associated with tDCS aphasia treatment by providing
extensive training in neuromodulatory technique, structure–function relationships in chronic aphasia,
behavioral aphasia treatment, cerebellar mechanisms of cognitive functions, and advanced neuroimaging
techniques. This research proposal will permit the candidate to apply these skills in understanding language
recovery and treatment of naming deficits in chronic stroke survivors with aphasia with large lesions.
Specifically, this proposal aims to study the effects of right cerebellar tDCS on naming and functional
connectivity changes of the language network in chronic stroke survivors with aphasia. During the mentored
phase, the candidate will evaluate the benefits of tDCS + computerized naming therapy compared to
computerized naming therapy alone on trained and untrained items immediately after intervention and through
2 months post-therapy. This will allow us to evaluate the potential benefits and sustainability of cerebellar tDCS
in stroke survivors with large lesions and the generalization of trained items to untrained items. During the
independent phase, the candidate will examine the topography of network modulation by right cerebellar tDCS
in individuals with chronic aphasia by using resting-state fMRI. This will enable us to evaluate the polarity-
specific changes in brain network dynamics induced by cerebellar tDCS to provide a plausible mechanistic
account of neuroplasticity and explain behavioral changes that are modulated by cerebellar tDCS in aphasia.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9982292
- **Project number:** 5R00DC015554-05
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Rajani Sebastian
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $236,336
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9982292

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9982292, Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Augment Chronic Aphasia Treatment (5R00DC015554-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9982292. Licensed CC0.

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