Feasibility of Home-Based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation with Telerehabilitation in Primary Progressive Aphasia—A Case Series
<b>Background:</b> Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by progressive impairment of speech and language abilities. Intensive speech and language teletherapy combined with remotely supervised, self-administered transcranial direct current stimula...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/7/742 |
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| Summary: | <b>Background:</b> Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by progressive impairment of speech and language abilities. Intensive speech and language teletherapy combined with remotely supervised, self-administered transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may be suited to remove barriers to accessing potentially effective treatments, but there is only limited evidence on the feasibility of this combined approach. <b>Methods:</b> This pilot case series investigated the feasibility, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of a novel telerehabilitation programme combined with home-based, self-administered tDCS for people with primary progressive aphasia (pwPPA). The intervention programme was co-developed with pwPPA and their caregivers, to reflect their priorities regarding treatment content and outcomes (i.e., naming, functional communication). <b>Results:</b> Two pwPPA successfully completed the telerehabilitation intervention with daily naming training and communicative-pragmatic therapy paired with tDCS, over 10 consecutive workdays. Caregivers assisted in the setup of equipment required for teletherapy and home-based tDCS. Participants successfully completed the programme with a 95% completion rate. Home-based tDCS was well tolerated. Both participants showed improvements in naming and communication, suggesting preliminary efficacy of the intervention. <b>Conclusions:</b> Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility and potential benefit of a novel, easily accessible and patient-relevant telerehabilitation intervention for pwPPA, which requires confirmation in a future larger-scale exploratory trial. |
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| ISSN: | 2076-3425 |