Transcranial direct current stimulation over the temporal-parietal junction yields no lexical-semantic effects in logopenic primary progressive aphasia: a double-blind sham-controlled study

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has generated some promising outcomes in primary progressive aphasia (PPA). The logopenic variant (lv-PPA), one of the most frequent PPA phenotypes, erodes the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) generating impaired lexical processing, rapidly extending to...

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Main Authors: Marc Teichmann, Clara Sanches, Angelina Bourbon, Dennis Q. Truong, Marom Bikson, Antoni Valero-Cabré
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:NeuroImage: Clinical
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158225000683
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author Marc Teichmann
Clara Sanches
Angelina Bourbon
Dennis Q. Truong
Marom Bikson
Antoni Valero-Cabré
author_facet Marc Teichmann
Clara Sanches
Angelina Bourbon
Dennis Q. Truong
Marom Bikson
Antoni Valero-Cabré
author_sort Marc Teichmann
collection DOAJ
description Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has generated some promising outcomes in primary progressive aphasia (PPA). The logopenic variant (lv-PPA), one of the most frequent PPA phenotypes, erodes the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) generating impaired lexical processing, rapidly extending to semantic deficits. Positive tDCS effects have been reported in several small-cohort studies but there is need for rigorous sham-controlled double-blind investigations to substantiate, or not, beneficial effects.We used a sham-controlled double-blind counter-balanced crossover design with 12 clinically and imaging-characterized lv-PPA patients applying, according to the principle of interhemispheric rivalry, anodal and cathodal tDCS over the left and right TPJ, respectively, as compared to sham. A letter fluency (lexical access), a picture-naming (lexical/semantic access), and a semantic-matching task (semantic access) were applied before and after tDCS. Computational modeling was used to characterize predicted cortical tDCS current distribution.Comparisons of post/pre-tDCS results did not show language improvement in any task. Finite element models showed impact for both tDCS modalities on the TPJ, but with lower radial field-strength when atrophy was implemented in the model. Correlation analyses on individual data, uncorrected for multiples comparisons, suggested that lesser aphasia severity and shorter disease duration are associated with more efficient tDCS effects.Our results showing the absence of significant tDCS outcomes in lv-PPA mitigate previous reports of positive tDCS effects with similar or smaller patient sample sizes, and they demonstrate the need for exploring factors influencing stimulation effects. Findings from computational modelling combined with our uncorrected correlation results suggest that tDCS use might be most appropriate in PPA patients having slight atrophy and aphasia severity. Future studies on larger patient populations are required for robust proof-of-concept regarding therapy use of tDCS in PPA.
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spelling doaj-art-37d79ce473e843adb65abb366f42f3f62025-08-20T03:19:56ZengElsevierNeuroImage: Clinical2213-15822025-01-014610379810.1016/j.nicl.2025.103798Transcranial direct current stimulation over the temporal-parietal junction yields no lexical-semantic effects in logopenic primary progressive aphasia: a double-blind sham-controlled studyMarc Teichmann0Clara Sanches1Angelina Bourbon2Dennis Q. Truong3Marom Bikson4Antoni Valero-Cabré5Pitié Salpêtrière University Hospital, Department of Neurology, National Reference Center for ‘Rare or Early Onset Dementias’, AP-HP Paris, France; Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, ICM-UMR INSERM-CNRS-SU 1127, Frontlab team, Paris, France; Corresponding authors at: Department of Neurology, National Reference Center for ‘Rare or Early Onset Dementias’, Pitié Salpêtrière University Hospital, 47-83 boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France.Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, ICM-UMR INSERM-CNRS-SU 1127, Frontlab team, Paris, France; Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, UMR INSERM-CNRS-SU 1127, Groupe de Dynamiques Cérébrales, Plasticité et Rééducation, ICM, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, FranceInstitut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, ICM-UMR INSERM-CNRS-SU 1127, Frontlab team, Paris, France; Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, UMR INSERM-CNRS-SU 1127, Groupe de Dynamiques Cérébrales, Plasticité et Rééducation, ICM, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, France; University of Geneva, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Geneva, Switzerland; Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie, UMR7018, CNRS, University Sorbanne Nouvelle. Paris, FranceNeural Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of City University of New York, New York, NY, USANeural Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of City University of New York, New York, NY, USAInstitut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, ICM-UMR INSERM-CNRS-SU 1127, Frontlab team, Paris, France; Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, UMR INSERM-CNRS-SU 1127, Groupe de Dynamiques Cérébrales, Plasticité et Rééducation, ICM, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, France; Laboratory for Cerebral Dynamics Plasticity and Rehabilitation, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; Cognitive Neuroscience and Information Technology Research Program, Open University of Catalonia (UOC), Barcelona, Spain; Corresponding authors at: Department of Neurology, National Reference Center for ‘Rare or Early Onset Dementias’, Pitié Salpêtrière University Hospital, 47-83 boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France.Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has generated some promising outcomes in primary progressive aphasia (PPA). The logopenic variant (lv-PPA), one of the most frequent PPA phenotypes, erodes the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) generating impaired lexical processing, rapidly extending to semantic deficits. Positive tDCS effects have been reported in several small-cohort studies but there is need for rigorous sham-controlled double-blind investigations to substantiate, or not, beneficial effects.We used a sham-controlled double-blind counter-balanced crossover design with 12 clinically and imaging-characterized lv-PPA patients applying, according to the principle of interhemispheric rivalry, anodal and cathodal tDCS over the left and right TPJ, respectively, as compared to sham. A letter fluency (lexical access), a picture-naming (lexical/semantic access), and a semantic-matching task (semantic access) were applied before and after tDCS. Computational modeling was used to characterize predicted cortical tDCS current distribution.Comparisons of post/pre-tDCS results did not show language improvement in any task. Finite element models showed impact for both tDCS modalities on the TPJ, but with lower radial field-strength when atrophy was implemented in the model. Correlation analyses on individual data, uncorrected for multiples comparisons, suggested that lesser aphasia severity and shorter disease duration are associated with more efficient tDCS effects.Our results showing the absence of significant tDCS outcomes in lv-PPA mitigate previous reports of positive tDCS effects with similar or smaller patient sample sizes, and they demonstrate the need for exploring factors influencing stimulation effects. Findings from computational modelling combined with our uncorrected correlation results suggest that tDCS use might be most appropriate in PPA patients having slight atrophy and aphasia severity. Future studies on larger patient populations are required for robust proof-of-concept regarding therapy use of tDCS in PPA.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158225000683tDCSLogopenic primary progressive aphasiaLanguage
spellingShingle Marc Teichmann
Clara Sanches
Angelina Bourbon
Dennis Q. Truong
Marom Bikson
Antoni Valero-Cabré
Transcranial direct current stimulation over the temporal-parietal junction yields no lexical-semantic effects in logopenic primary progressive aphasia: a double-blind sham-controlled study
NeuroImage: Clinical
tDCS
Logopenic primary progressive aphasia
Language
title Transcranial direct current stimulation over the temporal-parietal junction yields no lexical-semantic effects in logopenic primary progressive aphasia: a double-blind sham-controlled study
title_full Transcranial direct current stimulation over the temporal-parietal junction yields no lexical-semantic effects in logopenic primary progressive aphasia: a double-blind sham-controlled study
title_fullStr Transcranial direct current stimulation over the temporal-parietal junction yields no lexical-semantic effects in logopenic primary progressive aphasia: a double-blind sham-controlled study
title_full_unstemmed Transcranial direct current stimulation over the temporal-parietal junction yields no lexical-semantic effects in logopenic primary progressive aphasia: a double-blind sham-controlled study
title_short Transcranial direct current stimulation over the temporal-parietal junction yields no lexical-semantic effects in logopenic primary progressive aphasia: a double-blind sham-controlled study
title_sort transcranial direct current stimulation over the temporal parietal junction yields no lexical semantic effects in logopenic primary progressive aphasia a double blind sham controlled study
topic tDCS
Logopenic primary progressive aphasia
Language
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158225000683
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