Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the neurodegeneration of language brain systems. Three main clinical variants are currently recorgnized (nonfluent, semantic, and logopenic PPA). Nowadays, there are no effective treatments for this disorder.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a technique based on the principle of electromagnetic induction of an electric field in the brain. It has been used as a non-invasive therapy in different disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, Parkinson's disease, and in the rehabilitation of post-stroke aphasia. Recent studies have shown how repetitive TMS improved language characteristics in Alzheimer's disease, and there are initial data in patients with PPA.

This research project investigates the effect of repetitive TMS in patients with PPA. Investigators will perform a personalized TMS treatment for each patient (brain region, type of stimulation/inhibition, etc.), according to the specific characteristics of each patient and with the final aim to generate a computational model.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must be clinically diagnosed of PPA according to current diagnostic criteria (Gorno-Tempini et al. 2011) with PET-FDG confirmation.
• Clinical Dementia Rating 0-1.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Contraindications for TMS or MRI
• History of epilepsy
• Pregnancy
• Other language disorder previous to the diagnosis of PPA
• Neuroimaging not suggestive of PPA