NCT05386394

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in the Treatment of Primary Progressive Aphasia

Recruiting now Phase 2 Last updated 9 September 2025

What this trial tests

Phase 2 trial testing Active tDCS + Language Therapy in Primary Progressive Aphasia in 180 participants. Currently enrolling.

Timeline

13 February 2024

Primary endpoint
1 February 2028

1 February 2028

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Johns Hopkins University
Phase	Phase 2
Status	Recruiting now
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	crossover
Masking	triple
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	180
Start date	13 February 2024
Primary completion	1 February 2028
Estimated completion	1 February 2028
Sites	3 locations across Canada, United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• Active tDCS + Language Therapy
• Sham tDCS + Language Therapy

Conditions studied

• Primary Progressive Aphasia — all drugs for Primary Progressive Aphasia →
• Logopenic Progressive Aphasia — all drugs for Logopenic Progressive Aphasia →
• Non-Fluent Primary Progressive Aphasia — all drugs for Non-Fluent Primary Progressive Aphasia →

Sponsor

Johns Hopkins University

Who can join

Adults 50 to 90, any sex, with Primary Progressive Aphasia or Logopenic Progressive Aphasia. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

While many have strongly suggested that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may represent a beneficial intervention for patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), this promising technology has not yet been applied widely in clinical settings. This treatment gap is underscored by the absence of any neurally-focused standard-of-care treatments to mitigate the devastating impact of aphasia on patients' family, work, and social lives. Given that tDCS is inexpensive, easy to use (it is potentially amenable to home use by patients and caregivers), minimally invasive, and safe there is great promise to advance this intervention toward clinical use. The principal reason that tDCS has not found wide clinical application yet is that its efficacy has not been tested in large, multi-center, clinical trials. In this study, scientists in the three sites that have conducted tDCS clinical trials in North America-Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania in the US, and the University of Toronto in Canada, will collaborate to conduct a multi-site, Phase II clinical trial of tDCS a population in dire need of better treatments.

Publications & conference data

4 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Non-pharmacological interventions for improving language and communication in people with primary progressive aphasia.
   Roheger M, Riemann S, Brauer A, McGowan E, et al · · 2024 · cited 13× · PMID 38808659 · DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd015067.pub2
2. Home-Based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Pilot Study.
   Neophytou K, Williamson K, Herrmann O, Afthinos A, et al · · 2024 · cited 11× · PMID 38672040 · DOI 10.3390/brainsci14040391
3. Protocol for a multisite study on the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation as an adjuvant to naming and spelling therapy in the treatment of oral and written naming in individuals with primary progressive aphasia.
   Masson-Trottier M, Tippett D, Rapp B, Harvey DY, et al · · 2025 · PMID 40919410 · DOI 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1611272
4. Letter to the Editor Response to: Is Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Really Beneficial for Frontotemporal Dementia? (Published 12-18-2024).
   Tippett DC, Neophytou K, Tao Y, Gallegos J, et al · · 2025 · PMID 40453827 · DOI 10.1177/11795735251339997