Cherney Leora R, Babbitt Edna M, Wang Xue, Pitts Laura L
Think + Speak Lab, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Brain Sci. 2021 Feb 28;11(3):306. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11030306.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may enhance speech and language treatment (SLT) for stroke survivors with aphasia; however, to date, there is no standard protocol for the application of tDCS in post-stroke aphasia. We explored the safety and efficacy of fMRI-guided tDCS on functional language and cortical activity when delivered to the lesioned left hemisphere concurrently with SLT across an extended, six-week treatment period. Twelve persons with chronic, nonfluent aphasia following a single left-hemisphere stroke participated in the three-arm (anodal vs. cathodal vs. sham) single-blind, parallel, pilot trial. No serious adverse events occurred during 30 treatment sessions or in the following six weeks. All groups demonstrated functional language gains following intensive treatment; however, active tDCS resulted in greater gains in standardized, probe, and caregiver-reported measures of functional language than sham. Evidence declaring one polarity as superior for inducing language recovery was mixed. However, cathodal stimulation to the lesioned left hemisphere, expected to have a down-regulating effect, resulted in increased areas of cortical activation across both hemispheres, and specifically perilesionally. Generalization of these preliminary findings is limited; however, results are nevertheless compelling that tDCS combined with SLT can be safely applied across extended durations, with the potential to enhance functional language and cortical activation for persons with aphasia.
经颅直流电刺激(tDCS)可能会增强对失语症中风幸存者的言语和语言治疗(SLT);然而,迄今为止,在中风后失语症中应用tDCS尚无标准方案。我们探讨了在长达六周的治疗期间,将功能磁共振成像(fMRI)引导的tDCS与SLT同时应用于受损左半球时,其对功能语言和皮质活动的安全性和有效性。12名因单次左半球中风导致慢性非流利性失语症的患者参与了这项三臂(阳极刺激组与阴极刺激组与假刺激组)单盲、平行的试点试验。在30次治疗期间或随后的六周内未发生严重不良事件。所有组在强化治疗后功能语言均有改善;然而,与假刺激相比,主动tDCS在标准化、探针式以及照顾者报告的功能语言测量方面有更大改善。关于哪种极性在诱导语言恢复方面更具优势的证据并不一致。然而,对受损左半球进行阴极刺激,预期会产生下调作用,却导致双侧半球尤其是病灶周围皮质激活区域增加。这些初步研究结果的普遍性有限;然而,tDCS联合SLT可以在较长时间内安全应用,有可能增强失语症患者的功能语言和皮质激活,这一结果仍然令人信服。