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Personalized Brain Stimulation for Primary Progressive Aphasia

This study is testing a personalized brain stimulation treatment called active tES (transcranial electrical stimulation) combined with cognitive exercises for people with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA), a condition that affects language. The goal is to see if this personalized approach can improve language skills. The treatment involves a three-week program where a device delivers electrical stimulation to your brain, guided by your brain's unique activity (EEG mapping) and artificial intelligence. Between stimulation sessions, you'll complete cognitive exercises. To join, you should be 45-85 years old, right-handed, proficient in English, have a high-school education, and have a specific diagnosis of PPA with Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers. The study aims to enroll 10 participants, but its current status is unclear.

Study design
This is an interventional study, meaning participants will receive a specific treatment. It plans to enroll 10 participants.
What's involved
You would undergo daily 30-minute sessions for three weeks, which include active tES and cognitive exercises. Your memory will be tested before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Your language and memory will be assessed one month after the intervention is completed.

AI-generated from the public study record. Only the study team can confirm whether you're eligible — confirm details with them before making decisions.

NCT07511179

Personalized Closed-Loop Brain Stimulation for Patients With Primary Progressive Aphasia

Not Yet Recruiting
NAAges 45–85InterventionalTreatment
Johns Hopkins University
~10 participants
Updated 2026-05-08 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Active tESCognitive Interventions

At a glance

Recruiting sites
0 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Change in auditory recall accuracy based on the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically related - trained word-lists
Measured over Before intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention
+7 more outcomes measured

Conditions

PPA

Explore related trials

Alzheimer's DiseasePrimary Progressive AphasiaAmyloid beta peptideFDG-PET

Where it's being run

1 sites across 1 states
Maryland1

Study leadership

  • Kyrana Tsapkini, PhD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Johns Hopkins University

Who to contact

Kyrana Tsapkini, PhD
[email protected]
410-736-2940
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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Must be between 45-85 years of age.
Must be right-handed.
Must be proficient in English.
Must have a minimum of high-school education.
Must be diagnosed as lvPPA with AD biomarkers. Other possible diagnosis for the 'aphasic AD' variant would be MCI or 'possible AD' according to 2011 guidelines with AD biomarkers (CSF or positron emission tomography (PET) amyloid-beta or fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) with uni-hemispheric atrophy).
Participants will be diagnosed from PPA and early dementias clinics at Johns Hopkins University or other specialized centers in US using current consensus criteria. Diagnosis will be based on neuropsychological testing, language testing (most commonly the Western Aphasia Battery), MRI and clinical assessment. The investigators will also use two new variant classification tests the investigators have developed at the lab which discriminate PPA variants with great accuracy (above 80%): a spelling test and a speech production test (i.e., Cookie Theft picture description task).

Exclusion

People with previous neurological disease including vascular dementia (e.g., stroke, developmental dyslexia, dysgraphia or attentional deficit).
People with hearing loss (\> 25 decibel, using audiometric hearing screen).
People with uncorrected visual acuity loss.
People with advanced dementia or severe language impairments (MMSE \<15, or Montreal Cognitive Assessment \<10, or language Frontotemporal Dementia-specific Clinical Dementia Rating (FTD-CDR) =3).
Left-handed individuals.
People with pre-existing psychiatric disorders such as behavioral disturbances, severe depression, or schizophrenia that do not allow these people to comply or follow the study schedule and requirements such as repeated evaluation and therapy.

What this trial measures

  • Change in auditory recall accuracy based on the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically related - trained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each trained word-list (practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically related words (e.g., birds). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to learn each list. The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled by summing all scores from Trial 1 to Trial 5 and transforming to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.

  • Change in auditory delayed recall accuracy of semantically related - trained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each trained word-list (practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically related words (e.g., birds). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to recall each list, and then participants will be asked to recall that list 20 minutes later (delayed recall). The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled (delayed recall) and transform to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.

  • Change in auditory recall accuracy based on the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically unrelated - trained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each trained word-list (practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically unrelated words as in Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to learn each list. The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled by summing all scores from Trial 1 to Trial 5 and transforming to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.

  • Change in auditory delayed recall accuracy of semantically unrelated - trained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each trained word-list (practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically unrelated words (as in RAVLT). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to recall each list, and then participants will be asked to recall that list 20 minutes later (delayed recall). The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled (delayed recall) and transform to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.

  • Change in auditory recall accuracy based the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically related - untrained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each untrained word-list (not practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically related words (e.g., birds). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to learn each list. The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled by summing all scores from Trial 1 to Trial 5 and transforming to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.

  • Change in auditory delayed recall accuracy of semantically related - untrained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each untrained word-list (not practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically related words (e.g., birds). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to recall each list, and then participants will be asked to recall that list 20 minutes later (delayed recall). The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled (delayed recall) and transform to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.

  • Change in auditory recall accuracy based on the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically unrelated - untrained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each untrained word-list (not practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically unrelated words (as in RAVLT). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to learn each list. The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled by summing all scores from Trial 1 to Trial 5 and transforming to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.

  • Change in auditory delayed recall accuracy of semantically unrelated - untrained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each untrained word-list (not practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically unrelated words (as in RAVLT). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to recall each list, and then participants will be asked to recall that list 20 minutes later (delayed recall). The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled (delayed recall) and transform to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.