Memantine and constraint‐induced aphasia therapy in chronic poststroke aphasia

Abstract

Both memantine and CIAT alone improved aphasia severity, but best outcomes were achieved combining memantine with CIAT. Beneficial effects of memantine and CIAT persisted on long-term follow-up.

Pharmacotherapy to Improve the Acquired Aphasia following Brain Damages: A Review Study

“…Among the numerous clinical trials focused on the effect of drug on improvement of aphasia and cognitive deficits in patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), Alzheimer, vascular dementia, acute and chronic brain stroke and head trauma, the role of memantine as voltage-dependent uncompetitive antagonist at glutamatergic NMDA receptor (9,38), and anticholinesterase drugs such as donepezil (39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46), galantamine (47,48) and physostigmine (49) are remarkable.…”

“…In patients with non-dementia brain damage, increased vesicular glutamate storage in the frontal central, will promote stable cognitive impairment (90). Therefore, not only memantine reduce excessive activity NMDA receptors while maintaining activity of physiological receptor in areas with normal level of glutamate and hence imposes neuroprotective effect (91)(92)(93)(94), but also strengthens action dependent learning in language related areas via increased repair of synapses and long-term potentiation in intact neural networks (9,94,95).…”

“…Recently, to obtain faster and more effective results, a combination of speech and language therapy with other complementary therapies namely pharmacotherapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been very emphasized (7). Today, in rehabilitative interventions, a neuroscience-based intervention called Constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT), the use of language in communicative interactions and daily life demands, has become very common since its effectiveness as well as its advantages in efficient verbal communication remains constant (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)). Yet, these improvements are attributed to regeneration of the language areas around the left hemisphere lesions and increased use of intact homologous regions of right hemisphere to compensate diminished function of left hemisphere injured areas (16)(17)(18).…”

Methylphenidate and Memory and Attention Adaptation Training for Persistent Cognitive Symptoms after Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

“…Preliminary reports suggest that pharmacologic facilitation of brain injury rehabilitation may improve cognitive outcomes (Berthier et al, 2009;Bragoni et al, 2000); however, few studies examine the efficacy of pharmacologically facilitated cognitive rehabilitation, and none have focused specifically on this approach to the treatment of cognitive impairments in the late period following TBI. This study implemented a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the effectiveness of two forms of cognitive rehabilitation (remediation and compensatory training) and MPH, alone and in combination, to treat cognitive symptoms after TBI.…”

Anomia treatment platform as a behavioral engine for use in research on physiological adjuvants to neurorehabilitation

“…Several studies of aphasia resulting from stroke have endorsed that clinical outcomes might also be enhanced by various pharmacotherapies [13][14][15][16][17]. Nadeau and Wu (2006) state that "pairing a physiological agent with a behavioral therapy will be a key paradigm in neurorehabilitation .…”