AI-powered brain zaps aim to slow language loss in dementia
NCT ID NCT07511179
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 03, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tests a personalized brain stimulation device for people with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a condition that slowly destroys language abilities. Ten participants will receive daily 30-minute sessions over three weeks, where an AI analyzes their brain activity and adjusts the stimulation in real time while they do memory exercises. The goal is to see if this approach can improve word recall and thinking skills, and whether it could eventually be used at home.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) device
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a non-invasive, home-based therapy to help people with PPA retain language and memory skills longer.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small, early feasibility study with only 10 participants, so results may not apply to everyone. The treatment is short-term and may not produce lasting benefits.
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
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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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About 10 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- 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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45 to 85 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.
Show the full entry requirements Hide 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 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 Criteria: * 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.
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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
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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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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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Johns Hopkins Hospital
Baltimore, Maryland, 21287, United States
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