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Short reports |
1 Neurostimulation Unit, Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Os, Italy
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: alberto.priori{at}unimi.it.
Accepted 1 December 2007
 | Abstract |
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Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been proposed as an adjuvant technique to improve functional recovery after ischemic stroke. In this study we evaluated the effect of tDCS over left fronto-temporal (F-T) areas in chronic non-fluent post-stroke aphasic patients.
Methods: Eight patients with chronic non-fluent aphasia were studied before and immediately after tDCS (2mA, 10 minutes) over the damaged left fronto-temporal areas. The naming function was measured by a computer-controlled task.
Results: Whereas anodal tDCS and sham tDCS failed to induce any changes, cathodal tDCS significantly improved the accuracy of the picture naming task by 33.6±13.8% ([mean±SEM]).
Conclusions: Cathodal tDCS over the damaged left fronto-temporal areas in patients with chronic non-fluent aphasia improves naming. Because tDCS is simple, safe and inexpensive, this technique could be complementary to speech rehabilitation in the management of aphasic patients.
Keywords: aphasia, language, stroke, transcranial direct current stimulation, treatment
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