Tailoring rTMS for Post-Stroke Aphasia Based on Language Profile

Is this trial a fit for you?

A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.

What this trial studies

This trial explores whether customizing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) targets according to a patient’s lexicosemantic profile can improve recovery from post-stroke aphasia. Participants receive different rTMS paradigms (continuous or intermittent theta burst) or sham stimulation, alongside semantic feature analysis tasks to support language therapy. Functional MRI will be used to study how excitatory vs inhibitory stimulation affects interhemispheric balance and network connectivity related to language. The study also aims to understand how stroke location and brain connectivity modulate individual responses to rTMS, potentially explaining variability in outcomes.

Why it matters

Who can join: the full rules

Inclusion Criteria:

* Right-handedness (assesed using the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory)
* Native English speakers
* Single left hemispheric stroke
* Diagnosis of aphasia and lexicosemantic impairments (e.g., anomia, semantic errors in picture naming or spontaneous speech) confirmed by a Speech and Language Pathologist or Physician

Exclusion Criteria:

* Severely impaired auditory comprehension (WAB Comprehension score of 0 or 1)
* Major phonological impairments (defined as \> 2 errors in non-word repetition of one- and two-syllable items on the PALPA, 2)
* Contraindications to rTMS (e.g., uncontrolled epilepsy, history of seizures, intracranial ferromagnetic body, cochlear implant, or factors that lower seizure threshold (see Rossi et al., 2021)
* Contraindication to MRI
* Stroke involving the left ATL
* Severe depression or psychiatric history
* Illiteracy
* Known neurodegenerative disorders
* Severe uncorrected visual or hearing impairments

Where it's running

• McCausland Center
  Columbia, South Carolina, United States Recruiting

Study contacts

• Study coordinator: Sophie Arheix-Parras, PhD
• Email: sophie.arheix-parras@sc.edu
• Phone: 803-467-8018

Similar studies

Other studies for the same condition or treatment. Recruiting studies are listed first.

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• Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Language Therapy to Improve Speech After Stroke

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How to take part

1. Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
2. Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
3. Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.