Brain aging and aphasia after stroke
Official title: Brain Age in Aphasia
Funded at University of South Carolina at Columbia · NIH-11398021 · Data updated 2026-11-12
We’re learning how aging affects language problems after a stroke and how brain aging markers might help predict and improve care for people with aphasia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of South Carolina at Columbia NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbia, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $599,453 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DC022458-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11398021 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with chronic aphasia following a stroke.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals without aphasia due to stroke or without aging-related brain changes may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project studies how the aging brain influences aphasia severity after a stroke using new brain-imaging methods that measure brain age. By combining brain images, patient history, and cognitive profiles, the team aims to explain more of why aphasia varies between individuals. The work builds on prior methods to estimate brain age and explores its role in recovery and brain plasticity. If successful, findings could guide personalized therapies and recovery expectations for people living with aphasia after stroke.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the research could lead to more personalized approaches to treating aphasia by accounting for brain aging.
How similar studies have gone: Preliminary work suggests brain-age measures relate to cognition in stroke survivors with aphasia, with ongoing validation needed.
Where this research is happening
-
University of South Carolina at Columbia
Columbia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bonilha, Leonardo F — University of South Carolina at Columbia
- Study coordinator: Bonilha, Leonardo F
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Communication Bridge: Improving language therapy for people with primary progressive aphasia
A proven language-therapy program called Communication Bridge helps people with primary progressive aphasia improve and maintain how they communicate with others.
-
Neural signals linked to recovery from aphasia after stroke
This grant follows people who recently had a stroke and aphasia to understand why some recover language abilities better than others.
-
Bilingualism and language resilience in Hispanic people with primary progressive aphasia
Researchers compare different bilingual experiences to see how they relate to language decline and thinking skills in Hispanic adults with primary progressive aphasia.
-
Functional reorganization of language and general brain networks in aphasia
This project studies how language areas and general brain networks work together to help people recover language after a stroke, by looking at brain activity and responses to language tasks.
-
eSANA: revealing and improving AAC use after stroke for aphasia
A project to explore how people with aphasia after a stroke can best use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) during early rehabilitation.
-
Cortical Organization of Syntax in Aphasia
A patient-facing study to understand how brain injury affects sentence structure and help people with aphasia communicate more clearly.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.