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Primary Progressive AphasiaStABNCT07650188

Stimulating the Aging Brain Using Brain and Sensory Stimulation

A study testing tACS or multisensory stimulation in people with Primary Progressive Aphasia, run by Medical College of Wisconsin at 1 site in United States.

Recruiting

Looking for participants now. Contact the study team or a site below to ask about taking part.

Sites and contacts
Official record
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Trial summary

The goal of this project is to investigate whether transcranial electrical stimulation and sensory stimulation affect language outcomes in individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 45 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Primary Progressive Aphasia
What is being tested?
tACS or multisensory stimulation
Type of treatment
Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
20 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
1 Jun 2026to 30 May 2035
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 45 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Clinical exam supports diagnosis of PPA and/or MCI with no report of difficulty functioning in basic or instrumental activities of daily living.
  • Completed clinical cognitive exam within 6 months of study baseline visit OR neuropsychological research battery within 6 months of study baseline visit.

Who cannot join

  • Evidence of dementia at baseline
  • Known history of neoplasm, symptomatic stroke, moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, or other significant neurologic event
  • Age <45 years.
  • Evidence of severe psychiatric illness (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia).
  • Presence of cardiac stimulators or pacemakers
  • Any other implants near the scalp or in the eye
Show all 10Show fewer
  • Contraindications to MRI or stimulation
  • Pregnancy
  • History of ongoing or unmanaged seizures
  • History of dyslexia or other developmental learning disabilities

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

Sidney Schoenrock, MA contact

414-955-7579

sschoenrock@mcw.edu

United States1 site, 1 recruiting

  • Medical College of Wisconsin

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53226

    Sidney Schoenrock, MA, 414-955-7579, sschoenrock@mcw.edu

    Recruiting

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Stimulating the Aging Brain: Noninvasive Brain and Sensory Stimulation Strategies in Aging

The goal of this project is to investigate whether transcranial electrical stimulation and sensory stimulation affect language outcomes in individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) affect verbal short-term memory (STM) in individuals with PPA? Does a single session of multisensory stimulation affect verbal STM in individuals with PPA? Researchers will compare active tACS to sham tACS (a fake stimulation condition) to see if active tACS improves verbal STM. Researchers will compare pre-multisensory stimulation to post-stimulation performance to see if multisensory stimulation improves verbal STM.

Read more

Participants will:

Undergo EEG, MRI (anatomical and functional) May complete a cognitive exam Undergo tACS over 3 separate sessions Undergo multisensory stimulation Complete language tasks before, during and/or after stimulation

Read the detailed description

The primary objective of the current project is to examine the effects of tACS and multisensory stimulation on verbal STM outcomes in individuals with PPA. The selection of parameters will be guided on the basis of oscillatory brain activity using language task-based or task-free EEG paradigms. Neuroimaging (MRI and functional MRI) will guide spatial targets of tACS. A secondary objective is to explore sources of individual variability in response to stimulation and whether these factors could offer insight into disease progression. This proof-of-concept, pilot project will generate essential preliminary data to help refine hypotheses for future clinical trials aimed at assessing the efficacy of these intervention strategies in predicting and treating (as in delaying) disease progression.

Being tested
tACS or multisensory stimulation
Keywords
Transcranial alternating current stimulation, Multisensory stimulation
Medical subject headings
Aphasia, Primary Progressive

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • tACS or multisensory stimulationDevice

    Active or sham tACS Light and/or sound flickers

Study groups in NCT07650188
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
tACS or multisensory stimulationExperimentalAll participants in a within-subject design will receive high-Definition-tACS, delivered via a battery operated alternating current stimulator (Soterix) using two center-surround montages. Targets of stimulation will be localized based on the 10-10 International EEG system with center electrodes placed at a frontal and a temporoparietal site. The current is turned on and increased in a ramplike fashion over approximately 30 seconds. Participants will undergo tACS with frequencies ranging from 4-40Hz for 20-minutes with 2 milliampere (mA) peak-to-peak intensity. For sham stimulation, tACS is turned off after the first 30 seconds. All participants will receive light and/or sound flicker stimulation using an off-the-shelf app for 20 minutes.
Receives: Device: tACS or multisensory stimulation

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Changes in STM capacity assessed using a verbal STM task

    Improvement in STM capacity with in-phase tACS and worsening of STM capacity with anti-phase tACS compared to sham tACS

    Measured: Changes monitored over pre, during and immediately after 20 minutes of tACS

  2. Changes in STM capacity with multisensory stimulation using a verbal STM task

    Improvement in STM capacity post-stimulation compared to pre-stimulation

    Measured: Changes monitored pre and immediately after 20 minutes of stimulation

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted16 Jun 2026
  2. Study start1 Jun 2026
  3. Primary completion30 May 2031 (estimated)
  4. Study completion30 May 2035 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Model description
In a within-subject design, participants will receive in-phase tACS, anti-phase tACS and sham tACS with spatial targets and tACS frequency guided by baseline fMRI and EEG results. Participants will also undergo multisensory stimulation using light and/or sound flickers provided in the gamma range during a session separate from tACS.
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
20 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT07650188
Sponsor's protocol ID
PRO00056114
Acronym
StAB
Status last verified
Jun 2026
First submitted
8 Jun 2026
Last updated
16 Jun 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Hu J, Zheng L, Guan Z, Zhong K, Huang F, Huang Q, Yang J, Li W, Li S. Sensory gamma entrainment: Impact on amyloid protein and therapeutic mechanism. Brain Res Bull. 2023 Oct 1;202:110750. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2023.110750. Epub 2023 Aug 23.

    PubMed 37625524

  • Iaccarino HF, Singer AC, Martorell AJ, Rudenko A, Gao F, Gillingham TZ, Mathys H, Seo J, Kritskiy O, Abdurrob F, Adaikkan C, Canter RG, Rueda R, Brown EN, Boyden ES, Tsai LH. Gamma frequency entrainment attenuates amyloid load and modifies microglia. Nature. 2016 Dec 7;540(7632):230-235. doi: 10.1038/nature20587.

    PubMed 27929004

  • Martorell AJ, Paulson AL, Suk HJ, Abdurrob F, Drummond GT, Guan W, Young JZ, Kim DN, Kritskiy O, Barker SJ, Mangena V, Prince SM, Brown EN, Chung K, Boyden ES, Singer AC, Tsai LH. Multi-sensory Gamma Stimulation Ameliorates Alzheimer's-Associated Pathology and Improves Cognition. Cell. 2019 Apr 4;177(2):256-271.e22. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.02.014. Epub 2019 Mar 14.

    PubMed 30879788

  • McNett SD, Vyshedskiy A, Savchenko A, Durakovic D, Heredia G, Cahn R, Kogan M. A Feasibility Study of AlzLife 40 Hz Sensory Therapy in Patients with MCI and Early AD. Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Jul 17;11(14):2040. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11142040.

    PubMed 37510481

  • Tang Y, Xing Y, Sun L, Wang Z, Wang C, Yang K, Zhu W, Shi X, Xie B, Yin Y, Mi Y, Wei T, Tong R, Qiao Y, Yan S, Wei P, Yang Y, Shan Y, Zhang X, Jia J, Teipel SJ, Howard R, Lu J, Li C, Zhao G. TRanscranial AlterNating current stimulation FOR patients with mild Alzheimer's Disease (TRANSFORM-AD): a randomized controlled clinical trial. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2024 Sep 12;16(1):203. doi: 10.1186/s13195-024-01570-0.

    PubMed 39267112

  • Altomare D, Benussi A, Cantoni V, Premi E, Rivolta J, Cupidi C, Martorana A, Santarnecchi E, Padovani A, Koch G, Borroni B. Home-based transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) in Alzheimer's disease: rationale and study design. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2023 Sep 15;15(1):155. doi: 10.1186/s13195-023-01297-4.

    PubMed 37715232

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing tACS or multisensory stimulation in people with Primary Progressive Aphasia, run by Medical College of Wisconsin at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 10 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 16 Jun 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Sidney Schoenrock, MA (414-955-7579, sschoenrock@mcw.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Changes in STM capacity assessed using a verbal STM task (time frame: Changes monitored over pre, during and immediately after 20 minutes of tACS). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT07650188, which also lists 6 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 16 Jun 2026.

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