Ann Rehabil Med.  2013 Oct;37(5):603-610. 10.5535/arm.2013.37.5.603.

Effects of Dual Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Aphasia in Chronic Stroke Patients

• Lee SY
• Cheon HJ
• Yoon KJ
• Chang WH
• Kim YH

• KMID: 2266576
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5535/arm.2013.37.5.603

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To investigate any additional effect of dual transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) compared with single tDCS in chronic stroke patients with aphasia.
METHODS
Eleven chronic stroke patients (aged 52.6+/-13.4 years, nine men) with aphasia were enrolled. Single anodal tDCS was applied over the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and a cathodal electrode was placed over the left buccinator muscle. Dual tDCS was applied as follows: 1) anodal tDCS over the left IFG and cathodal tDCS over the left buccinator muscle and 2) cathodal tDCS over the right IFG and anodal tDCS over the right buccinator muscle. Each tDCS was delivered for 30 minutes at a 2-mA intensity. Speech therapy was provided during the last 15 minutes of the tDCS. Before and after the stimulation, the Korean-Boston Naming Test and a verbal fluency test were performed.
RESULTS
The dual tDCS produced a significant improvement in the response time for the Korean-Boston Naming Test compared with the baseline assessment, with a significant interaction between the time and type of interventions. Both single and dual tDCS produced a significant improvement in the number of correct responses after stimulation with no significant interaction. No significant changes in the verbal fluency test were observed after single or dual tDCS.
CONCLUSION
The results conveyed that dual tDCS using anodal tDCS over the left IFG and cathodal tDCS over the right IFG may be more effective than a single anodal tDCS over the left IFG.

Keyword

Stroke; Aphasia; Transcranial direct current stimulation; Electrical stimulation therapy

MeSH Terms

Aphasia*
Electric Stimulation Therapy
Electrodes
Humans
Muscles
Reaction Time
Speech Therapy
Stroke*

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Study design for the single and dual transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). The single tDCS applied anodal tDCS over the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and reference electrode over the left buccinators muscle. The dual tDCS was conducted with 1) anodal tDCS over the left IFG and cathodal tDCS over the left buccinators muscle and 2) cathodal tDCS over the right IFG and anodal tDCS over the right buccinators muscle. All subjects were assessed with the Korean-Boston Naming Test (K-BNT) and the verbal fluency (VF) test before and immediately after stimulation.

• 

  Fig. 2 Changes in the response time (A) and the number of correct response (B) for the picture naming test, and the number of syllables in the verbal fluency test (C) were demonstrated after application of the single and dual transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). *p<0.05.

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