Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 8, 2026
Randomized, Triple-Blind, and Parallel-Controlled Trial of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Cognitive Rehabilitation after Stroke
Published on: June 6, 2025
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improves Audioverbal Memory in Stroke Patients.
Toshinari Kazuta1, Kotaro Takeda, Rieko Osu
1From the Tokyo Bay Rehabilitation Hospital, Chiba (TK, AO, KK); Yachiyo Hospital, Chiba (TK); Fujita Memorial Nanakuri Institute, Fujita Health University, Mie (KT); ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories, Kyoto (RO); Laboratory of Psychology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Shizuoka (ST); and Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo (ML), Japan.
Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left temporoparietal area significantly enhanced audioverbal memory recall in stroke patients. This intervention also notably improved the primacy effect in word recall tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Audioverbal memory impairment is a common deficit following stroke.
- Current rehabilitation strategies for post-stroke memory deficits have limited efficacy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the efficacy of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to the left temporoparietal area for improving audioverbal memory in stroke patients.
- To determine if tDCS influences the serial position effect in memory recall.
Main Methods:
- A single-masked, crossover, sham-controlled experiment was conducted with 12 stroke patients exhibiting audioverbal memory impairment.
- Anodal or sham tDCS was administered during the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT).
- Performance was assessed by comparing the number of correctly recalled words and analyzing the serial position effect across trials.
Main Results:
- A significantly greater increase in correctly recalled words from trial 1 to 5 was observed in the anodal tDCS condition compared to sham (P < 0.01).
- The anodal tDCS group showed a significant improvement in recalling the initial words (primacy region) across trials 2-5 (P < 0.01).
- No significant differences were found in the middle or recency regions of word recall between conditions.
Conclusions:
- Anodal tDCS over the left temporoparietal cortex is an effective intervention for enhancing audioverbal memory performance in stroke survivors.
- The stimulation induced a significant primacy effect, suggesting an improvement in the encoding or initial retrieval of verbal information.
