Zapping the brain to restore speech after stroke
NCT ID NCT07347327
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested whether a gentle brain stimulation technique called tACS, combined with speech training, can improve the ability to repeat words in people who had a stroke. 28 adults with aphasia received either real or fake stimulation for 20 minutes daily over 10 days. Researchers measured language skills and brain activity before and after treatment to see if the real stimulation helped more than the placebo.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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28 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jan 2023
- Finished
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Dec 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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30 to 80 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Meeting the diagnostic criteria for hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke in the Chinese Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Cerebrovascular Diseases(2nd edition), with the first onset, single hemisphere stroke, and confirmed by CT or MRI,course of diease 1-6 months; * Age ranging from 30 to 80 years old; * Native language is Mandarin or Cantonese; * Right-handed; * Diagnosed with aphasia by the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) scale; * Able to cooperate in completing the speech repetition test; * Normal hearing. Exclusion Criteria: * Currently receiving non-invasive brain stimulation treatment; * Lesions involving the Broca or STG brain regions; * History of epilepsy, mental illness,or other neurological or mental disorders; * Any contraindications for transcranial electrical stimulation.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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