Zapping the brain to unlock lost words after stroke
NCT ID NCT06974279
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jul 10, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether a precise form of brain stimulation (TMS) combined with language therapy can improve word-finding in people who have aphasia after a stroke. Fifty stroke survivors will receive either targeted or control stimulation during therapy sessions. The goal is to see if the targeted approach leads to better naming accuracy for words they haven't practiced.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a non-invasive way to boost language recovery after stroke.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage trial (50 people) testing a device, not a drug. Results may not apply to all stroke survivors, and the benefit may be modest or absent.
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 50 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Sep 2025
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2036
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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18 years and older
- 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: * Diagnosed with left hemisphere stroke * Consent date \>= 1 month after stroke onset * 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 (e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disease) * A chronic medical condition that is not treated or is unstable * The presence of cardiac stimulators or pacemakers or intracardiac lines, neurostimulators, medication infusion device, any other implants near the scalp (e.g., cochlear implants) or in the eye, metal in the body (e.g., splinters, fragments, clips) * Pregnancy * History of skull fractures, or skin diseases * History of ongoing or unmanaged seizures * Presence of factors that potentially decrease seizure thresholds: on pro-convulsant medications, untreated sleep deprivation or insomnia, ongoing alcoholism or illegal drug abuse (e.g., cocaine or MDMA users) * History of dyslexia or other developmental learning disabilities
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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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Medical College of Wisconsin
RECRUITINGMilwaukee, Wisconsin, 53226, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Moving patterns may help stroke survivors read faster
- Vibrating wearables put stroke walking to the test
- Robot plus electrical stimulation aims to rebuild arm movement after stroke
- Can a checklist and heart monitor stop repeat strokes?
- Heart hole or stroke trigger? global registry tracks who gets closure and what happens next