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Cognitive neurology
Review
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and language
  1. Alessia Monti1,
  2. Roberta Ferrucci2,3,
  3. Manuela Fumagalli2,3,
  4. Francesca Mameli2,
  5. Filippo Cogiamanian2,4,
  6. Gianluca Ardolino2,4,
  7. Alberto Priori2,3
  1. 1Centro Interdipartimentale Mente/Cervello (CIMeC), Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva (CeRiN), Università degli Studi di Trento, Rovereto, Italy
  2. 2Centro Clinico per la Neurostimolazione, le Neurotecnologie ed i Disordini del Movimento, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy
  3. 3Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia Medico-Chirurgica e dei Trapianti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
  4. 4U.O. di Neurofisiopatologia, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy
  1. Correspondence to Professor Alberto Priori, Centro Clinico per la Neurostimolazione, le Neurotecnologie ed i Disordini del Movimento, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza, 35-20122 Milano, Italy; alberto.priori{at}unimi.it

Abstract

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive neuromodulation technique inducing prolonged brain excitability changes and promoting cerebral plasticity, is a promising option for neurorehabilitation. Here, we review progress in research on tDCS and language functions and on the potential role of tDCS in the treatment of post-stroke aphasia. Currently available data suggest that tDCS over language-related brain areas can modulate linguistic abilities in healthy individuals and can improve language performance in patients with aphasia. Whether the results obtained in experimental conditions are functionally important for the quality of life of patients and their caregivers remains unclear. Despite the fact that important variables are yet to be determined, tDCS combined with rehabilitation techniques seems a promising therapeutic option for aphasia.

  • Aphasia
  • Rehabilitation
  • Stroke
  • Electrical Stimulation
  • Speech Therapy

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2012-302825

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