Enhancing Reading Recovery in Aphasia With tDCS and Phonomotor Therapy

May 4, 2026 updated by: Olga Boukrina, Kessler Foundation

Enhancing Reading Recovery in Aphasia With tDCS and PMT

This study is designed for individuals with aphasia, a language disorder that affects many stroke survivors, making it difficult to read, speak, and understand language. Up to 70% of people with aphasia struggle with reading, which impacts their ability to communicate, work, and engage in daily life.

The study aims to test a new approach to reading rehabilitation by combining Phono-Motor Treatment (PMT), a language therapy adapted to improve reading, with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a safe and painless brain stimulation technique. tDCS delivers a mild electrical current to the brain, which may enhance learning. This study will assess whether adding tDCS to PMT improves reading therapy outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study aims to improve reading rehabilitation for individuals with aphasia, a language disorder that affects many stroke survivors. The goal is to determine whether adding transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a safe and painless brain stimulation technique, to Phono-Motor Treatment (PMT), a language therapy adapted for reading, enhances treatment effectiveness.

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups, each receiving different combinations of PMT and tDCS over six weeks. Some will receive active tDCS at different points in therapy, while others will receive a placebo (sham) version. By comparing how the timing of tDCS affects reading improvement, this study aims to optimize treatment strategies for individuals with aphasia.

Reading and language skills will be assessed before, during, and after treatment using standardized tests to measure progress. The study will take place at two sites: Kessler Foundation and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), where participants will complete therapy sessions.

Findings from this research may help develop more effective and accessible treatments for stroke survivors with aphasia, improving their ability to read and communicate.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

6

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New Jersey
      • West Orange, New Jersey, United States, 07052
        • Kessler Foundation
    • Wisconsin
      • Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53226
        • Medical College of Wisconsin

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Chronic (>6 months) left-hemisphere stroke
  • Aphasia diagnosis.
  • Deficits in reading aloud.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Eye condition not correctable with lenses and interfering with reading (e.g., blindness)
  • Severe apraxia of speech or cognitive deficits preventing participation.
  • Participation in one-on-one aphasia rehabilitation during the study period.
  • Brain disorders other than stroke (such as Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia, Parkinson's Disease, etc)

  • Contraindications of tDCS or MRI

    • Skin condition affecting the scull (e.g., psoriasis) or open wounds at the stimulation site.
    • Presence of metallic implants (e.g., cardiac stimulators or pacemakers, cochlear implants)
    • History of ongoing/unmanaged seizers
    • Pregnancy
    • Claustrophobia
    • Inability to lie flat on the back

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Early tDCS
This group will undergo Active tDCS + PMT for weeks 1-3 and Sham tDCS + PMT for weeks 4-6.
Device: Schedule of tDCS administration
This study evaluates the combined effects of Phono-Motor Treatment (PMT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for reading rehabilitation in post-stroke aphasia. Unlike standard speech therapy, this intervention integrates non-invasive brain stimulation to enhance language recovery by modulating neural activity in perilesional areas. We hypothesize that active tDCS will enhance PMT efficacy, leading to greater improvements in reading competence and phonological processing compared to sham tDCS. Through systematic testing across the 3 study arms, we expect to identify the most effective stimulation timing.
Sham Comparator: Late tDCS
This group will undergo Sham tDCS + PMT for weeks 1-3 and Active tDCS + PMT for weeks 4-6.
Device: Schedule of tDCS administration
This study evaluates the combined effects of Phono-Motor Treatment (PMT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for reading rehabilitation in post-stroke aphasia. Unlike standard speech therapy, this intervention integrates non-invasive brain stimulation to enhance language recovery by modulating neural activity in perilesional areas. We hypothesize that active tDCS will enhance PMT efficacy, leading to greater improvements in reading competence and phonological processing compared to sham tDCS. Through systematic testing across the 3 study arms, we expect to identify the most effective stimulation timing.
Active Comparator: Interleaved tDCS
This group will receive PMT + Active/Sham tDCS on alternate days for 6 weeks.
Device: Schedule of tDCS administration
This study evaluates the combined effects of Phono-Motor Treatment (PMT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for reading rehabilitation in post-stroke aphasia. Unlike standard speech therapy, this intervention integrates non-invasive brain stimulation to enhance language recovery by modulating neural activity in perilesional areas. We hypothesize that active tDCS will enhance PMT efficacy, leading to greater improvements in reading competence and phonological processing compared to sham tDCS. Through systematic testing across the 3 study arms, we expect to identify the most effective stimulation timing.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Reading aloud accuracy
Time Frame: before treatment, midway through treatment, and immediately after treatment
Participants will read words and pronounceable pseudowords that appear one at a time on the computer screen. Each testing session will be audio recorded and independently scored by 2 raters, with ties resolved by a 3rd rater.
before treatment, midway through treatment, and immediately after treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Reading Comprehension Battery for Aphasia 2nd Edition
Time Frame: before treatment, midway through treatment, and immediately after treatment
Participants will complete a standardized language assessment.
before treatment, midway through treatment, and immediately after treatment
Western Aphasia Battery
Time Frame: before treatment, midway through treatment, and immediately after treatment
Participants will complete a standardized language assessment.
before treatment, midway through treatment, and immediately after treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Kessler Foundation

Collaborators

Medical College of Wisconsin

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 12, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 14, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

February 14, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 12, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 17, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 24, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 4, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R-1290-25

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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