Recruiting

tACS

Sponsor:

Medical College of Wisconsin

Code:

NCT04375722

Conditions

Aphasia

Stroke

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

tACS

Study Details

Brief summary:

This study will assess the effects of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) on language recovery after stroke as well as healthy language functions.

Conditions

Aphasia

Stroke

Study ID

NCT04375722

Start date

Jan 4, 2020

Status verified date

Jul, 2026

Completion date

Dec, 2030

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jan, 2030

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

Healthy Controls

  • 18 years of age or older
  • Fluent in English
  • No history of neurological or psychiatric disorders

Stroke Patients

  • Diagnosed with post-stroke aphasia by referring physician/neuropsychologist
  • Consent date >=1 months after stroke onset
  • Right-handed
  • Fluent in English
  • 18 years of age or older

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe cognitive, auditory or visual impairments that would preclude cognitive and language testing
  • Presence of major untreated or unstable psychiatric disease
  • A chronic medical condition that is not treated or is unstable
  • The presence of cardiac stimulators or pacemakers
  • Any metal implants in the skull
  • Contraindications to MRI or tACS
  • History of seizures
  • History of dyslexia or other developmental learning disabilities

Study Design

Enrollment

50 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: tACS low frequency

All participants in a within-subject design will receive high-Definition-tACS, delivered via a battery operated alternating current stimulator (Soterix) using two 3x1 center-surround montages. Targets of stimulation will be localized based on the 10-10 International EEG system or fMRI-guided targets with center electrodes placed at a frontal/anterior and a temporoparietal/posterior site. The current is turned on and increased in a ramplike fashion over approximately 30 seconds. Participants will undergo tACS with frequencies ranging from 4-40Hz for 20-minutes with 2 milliampere (mA) peak-to-peak intensity. For sham stimulation, tACS is turned off after the first 30 seconds.

Interventions

tACS

Active or Sham tACS will be applied.

Primary outcome measure

  • tACS changes in language performance verbal STM tasks [ Time Frame: Changes monitored over pre, during and immediately after 20 minutes of tACS ]
  • tACS-dependent neurophysiological changes [ Time Frame: Changes monitored over pre and immediately after 20 minutes of tACS ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Sidney Schoenrock, MA

414-955-7579sschoenrock@mcw.edu

Locations

Medical College of Wisconsin

Recruiting

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53226

Contacts

Sidney Schoenrock, MA

414-955-7579sschoenrock@mcw.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Medical College of Wisconsin

Last update posted

Jul 29, 2026

Last verified

Jul, 2026

Keywords

  • language
  • language impairment
  • transcranial alternating current stimulation
  • tACS

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-08. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Medical College of Wisconsin on 2026-07-29.