Project Summary/Abstract
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a disorder characterized by gradual decline in communication ability
caused by neurodegeneration of brain regions that support speech and language. PPA is a devastating condition
that can affect adults as young as their 50’s, depriving them of the ability to communicate and function in society.
The cognitive and neural bases of PPA have been well characterized and a growing evidence base supports the
utility of speech-language treatment for this population. Based on this body of work, we are now poised to
broaden and optimize treatment options for persons with PPA, adding cutting-edge neuromodulatory and
behavioral techniques that leverage current technological and conceptual advances. The long-term objective of
this project is to establish a more comprehensive continuum of care for persons with PPA by evaluating novel
neuromodulatory and speech-language treatment methods addressing the communication deficits in PPA. The
study has three main goals: 1) to evaluate the acceptability and benefit of remotely-supervised transcranial direct
current stimulation (RS-tDCS) in conjunction with proven restitutive treatments for naming and speech
production/fluency for persons with PPA 2) to identify baseline neural factors that relate to responsiveness to
tDCS in PPA and 3) to evaluate the benefit of a novel, multifaceted, person-centered intervention designed to
improve functional communication for individuals with PPA. In order to accomplish these aims, we will enroll 126
individuals with PPA who will undergo comprehensive assessment and virtual treatment, with a subset of
participants receiving RS-tDCS in conjunction with speech-language intervention. The necessary recruitment
and expertise to support the aims of this study will be facilitated by a longstanding collaboration with the
University of California, San Francisco’s Memory and Aging Center and through a new collaboration with the
University of New Mexico. This work will provide fundamental evidence regarding the efficacy of rehabilitation
strategies across the severity continuum and phenotypic spectrum in PPA, with the potential to improve clinical
care for individuals with this debilitating condition.