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Could zapping the brain help people with Alzheimer's speak better?

NCT ID NCT03887481

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Sep 10, 2026 · Updated 3 times

Summary

This study tests whether a gentle electrical current applied to specific brain areas can boost the effects of language therapy in people with logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA), a form of Alzheimer's that mainly affects language. Sixty participants will receive either active or sham brain stimulation while doing word repetition exercises. The goal is to see if this combination improves short-term memory for words and generalizes to other language skills.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
What this could lead to
If it works, this could point toward a non-drug way to boost language therapy and improve communication for people with this form of early-onset Alzheimer's.
What could go wrong
This is an early-stage study with only 60 participants, so results may not apply to everyone. The benefits may be small or temporary, and not all people respond to brain stimulation.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

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

About 60 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Oct 2022

Expected to finish

Oct 2027

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

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

50 to 80 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Accepted

You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Must be between 50-80 years of age. * Must be right-handed. * Must be proficient in English. * Must have a minimum of high-school education. * Must be diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) or dementia. * Participants will be diagnosed with PPA or with any of the PPA variants in specialized or early dementias clinics at Johns Hopkins University or other specialized centers in the US based on the current consensus criteria. * Healthy age- and education-matched controls: The investigators will include 30 healthy age- and education-matched controls, usually spouses, to maximize similarity in terms of other demographic or life-style factors that contribute to language and cognitive performance. Exclusion Criteria: * People with previous neurological disease including vascular dementia (e.g., stroke, developmental dyslexia, dysgraphia or attentional deficit). * People with uncorrected hearing loss * People with uncorrected visual acuity loss. * People with advanced dementia or severe language impairments: Mini Mental State -Examination (MMSE)\<18, or Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA)\<15, or language Frontotemporal Dementia specific - Clinical Dementia Rating (FTD-CDR)\<=2. * 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. Exclusion Criteria for MRI Participation: * People with severe claustrophobia. * People with cardiac pacemakers or ferromagnetic implants. * Pregnant women.

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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.

How to take part

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  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

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  3. A doctor treating you

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Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Johns Hopkins Hospital

    RECRUITING

    Baltimore, Maryland, 21287, United States

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