In a randomized controlled trial, efficacy of low-frequency, inhibitory rTMS will be examined in rehabilitation of acquired aphasia. Two cortical sites will be targeted: Right-hemispheric homologues of Broca's and Wernicke's areas. In addition to cognitive screening prior to onset of rTMS, language assessments will be conducted before, during and after the intervention. An eyetracking-while-listening experiment will also be conducted before and after the intervention to investigate morphosyntactic processing.
Efficacy of low-frequency (1hz), inhibitory rTMS will be examined in rehabilitation of acquired aphasia. Two cortical sites will be targeted: Right-hemispheric homologues of Broca's and Wernicke's areas. In other words, right frontal and right temporal sites will be targeted. In addition to cognitive screening prior to onset of rTMS, language assessments will be conducted before, during and after the intervention. The language assessment will be conducted using the Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test (ADD) and sets of pictures used to assess naming performance. ADD will be carried out before and after the intervention. Six picture sets will be used, one at baseline, four on different days during the intervention, and the last one immediately after the last day of the intervention. Cognitive screening will be conducted at baseline using the digit span test and Raven's colored progressive matrices. In addition, a pre- and post-treatment eyetracking-while-listening experiment will be conducted to investigate morphosyntactic processing in Turkish and to examine whether the two brain stimulation interventions differentially affect online (dynamic, time-dependent) measures of morphosyntactic processing. The eyetracking paradigm will request the participants to listen to Turkish sentences varying in morphosyntactic complexity (canonical versus noncanonical sentences) and to look at the picture (out of two pictures presented on the screen) corresponding to the sentence they are listening to.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
20
Low frequency (1 Hz) rTMS over right inferior frontal gyrus
Low frequency (1 Hz) rTMS over right posterior superior temporal gyrus
İstanbul Medipol University, Speech, Language and Swallowing Therapy and Research Center (MEDKOM)
Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
RECRUITINGTurkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test Scores Time 1 (pre-treatment)
Baseline scores obtained from the Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test (ADD) Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 292 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: Immediately before the intervention (Day 0)
Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test Scores Time 2 (during treatment)
Scores obtained from the Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test (ADD) at the end of the first week of treatment Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 292 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: At the end of the first week of intervention (Day 5)
Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test Scores Time 3 (post-treatment short-term)
Post-treatment scores obtained from the Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test (ADD) at the end of the treatment Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 292 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: Immediately after the intervention (Day 10)
Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test Scores Time 4 (post-treatment medium-term)
Post-treatment scores obtained from the Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test (ADD) one month after the end of the treatment Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 292 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: 1 month after the intervention
Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test Scores Time 5 (post-treatment long-term)
Post-treatment scores obtained from the Turkish Aphasia Language Assessment Test (ADD) six months after the end of the treatment Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 292 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: 6 months after the intervention
Picture Naming Scores Time 1 (pre-treatment)
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Picture naming performance (number of accurately named pictures \& naming latency for correctly named pictures) There are 20 pictures in total, of which half are objects and half actions. Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 20 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: Immediately before the intervention (Day 0)
Picture Naming Scores Time 2 (during treatment)
Picture naming performance (number of accurately named pictures \& naming latency for correctly named pictures) There are 20 pictures in total, of which half are objects and half actions. Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 20 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: At the end of the first week of intervention (Day 5)
Picture Naming Scores Time 3 (post-treatment short-term)
Picture naming performance (number of accurately named pictures \& naming latency for correctly named pictures) There are 20 pictures in total, of which half are objects and half actions. Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 20 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: Immediately after the intervention (Day 10)
Picture Naming Scores Time 4 (post-treatment medium-term)
Picture naming performance (number of accurately named pictures \& naming latency for correctly named pictures) There are 20 pictures in total, of which half are objects and half actions. Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 20 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: 1 month after the intervention
Picture Naming Scores Time 5 (post-treatment long-term)
Picture naming performance (number of accurately named pictures \& naming latency for correctly named pictures) There are 20 pictures in total, of which half are objects and half actions. Minimum score: 0 points Maximum score: 20 points Higher scores indicate a better outcome
Time frame: 6 months after the intervention
Eye movements Time 1 (pre-treatment)
An eyetracking-while-listening paradigm will be used to determine proportions of dwell time on the correct picture (out of two alternatives) corresponding to auditorily presented Turkish sentences varying in morphosyntactic complexity.
Time frame: Immediately before the intervention (Day 0)
Eye movements Time 2 (post-treatment)
An eyetracking-while-listening paradigm will be used to determine proportions of dwell time on the correct picture (out of two alternatives) corresponding to auditorily presented Turkish sentences varying in morphosyntactic complexity.
Time frame: Immediately after the intervention (Day 10)