Non-invasive Brain Stimulation to Enhance Treatment of Dysarthria Post-stroke

A total of 60 Cantonese-speaking post-stroke patients who are suffering from dysarthria will be recruited and randomly divided into real tDCS and sham groups. All the participants will receive individualized speech therapy based on the results of their speech assessment. For the real tDCS group, an anodal high-definition tDCS of 2 milliamperes (mA) lasting for 20 minutes will be delivered to the orofacial area of the primary motor cortex (SM1) during speech therapy. For the sham tDCS group, stimulation given during speech therapy will only last for 30 seconds in order to cause a similar sensation on the scalp as the real stimulation group. There will be a total of 10 daily sessions during a 2-week period.