BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Previous evidence suggests that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) applied to the left hemisphere can improve aphasic participants' ability to name common objects. The current study further examined this issue in a more tightly controlled experiment in participants with fluent aphasia. METHODS: We examined the effect of A-tDCS on reaction time during overt picture naming in 8 chronic stroke participants. Anode electrode placement targeted perilesional brain regions that showed the greatest activation on a pretreatment functional MRI scan administered during overt picture naming with the reference cathode electrode placed on the contralateral forehead. A-tDCS (1 mA; 20-minute) was compared with sham tDCS (S-tDCS) in a crossover design. Participants received 10 sessions of computerized anomia treatment; 5 sessions included A-tDCS and 5 included S-tDCS. RESULTS: Coupling A-tDCS with behavioral language treatment reduced reaction time during naming of trained items immediately posttreatment (Z=1.96, P=0.025) and at subsequent testing 3 weeks later (Z=2.52, P=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: A-tDCS administered during language treatment decreased processing time during picture naming by fluent aphasic participants. Additional studies combining A-tDCS, an inexpensive method with no reported serious side effects, with behavioral language therapy are recommended.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Previous evidence suggests that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) applied to the left hemisphere can improve aphasic participants' ability to name common objects. The current study further examined this issue in a more tightly controlled experiment in participants with fluent aphasia. METHODS: We examined the effect of A-tDCS on reaction time during overt picture naming in 8 chronic strokeparticipants. Anode electrode placement targeted perilesional brain regions that showed the greatest activation on a pretreatment functional MRI scan administered during overt picture naming with the reference cathode electrode placed on the contralateral forehead. A-tDCS (1 mA; 20-minute) was compared with sham tDCS (S-tDCS) in a crossover design. Participants received 10 sessions of computerized anomia treatment; 5 sessions included A-tDCS and 5 included S-tDCS. RESULTS: Coupling A-tDCS with behavioral language treatment reduced reaction time during naming of trained items immediately posttreatment (Z=1.96, P=0.025) and at subsequent testing 3 weeks later (Z=2.52, P=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: A-tDCS administered during language treatment decreased processing time during picture naming by fluent aphasic participants. Additional studies combining A-tDCS, an inexpensive method with no reported serious side effects, with behavioral language therapy are recommended.
Authors: Paula I Martin; Margaret A Naeser; Michael Ho; Karl W Doron; Jacquie Kurland; Jerome Kaplan; Yunyan Wang; Marjorie Nicholas; Errol H Baker; Miguel Alonso; Felipe Fregni; Alvaro Pascual-Leone Journal: Brain Lang Date: 2009-08-19 Impact factor: 2.381
Authors: Whitney Anne Postman-Caucheteux; Rasmus M Birn; Randall H Pursley; John A Butman; Jeffrey M Solomon; Dante Picchioni; Joe McArdle; Allen R Braun Journal: J Cogn Neurosci Date: 2010-06 Impact factor: 3.225
Authors: Julius Fridriksson; Julie M Baker; Janet Whiteside; David Eoute; Dana Moser; Roumen Vesselinov; Chris Rorden Journal: Stroke Date: 2009-01-22 Impact factor: 7.914
Authors: Elizabeth Heinrichs-Graham; Timothy J McDermott; Mackenzie S Mills; Nathan M Coolidge; Tony W Wilson Journal: Cortex Date: 2016-12-07 Impact factor: 4.027