THERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION OVER THE CONTRALESIONAL HEMISPHERE ON SUBACUTE -FLUENT POST-STROKE APHASIA

Abstract

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the contralesional hemisphere on subacute non-fluent post-stroke aphasia (PSA). Methods A total of 58 patients with subacute non-fluent PSA who were hospitalized in Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, West Coast Campus of The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, from June 2020 to September 2021 were enrolled and randomly divided into anodal stimulation group with 19 patients, cathodal stimulation group with 20 patients, and sham stimulation group with 19 patients. In addition to conventional speech therapy, tDCS was performed simultaneously once a day, 5 d a week for 3 weeks. The Chinese version of Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) was used to evaluate spontaneous speech, auditory comprehension, repetition, naming, and aphasia quotient (AQ) before and after treatment. Results All three groups had significant improvements in WAB scores after treatment (t=5.349-12.220,P<0.05). Compared with the cathodal stimulation group and the sham stimulation group, the anodal stimulation group had significantly better improvements in spontaneous speech, auditory comprehension, naming, and AQ (F=4.360-10.340,q=3.426-5.695,P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in the improvement in repetition between the three groups (P>0.05). Conclusion For patients with subacute non-fluent PSA, anodal tDCS of the homologue of Broca’s area in the right hemisphere can effectively improve their spontaneous speech, auditory comprehension, naming, and AQ.

Keywords

• transcranial direct current stimulation|aphasia|language therapy|stroke|stroke rehabilitation|treatment outcome