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redrightreturning t1_j0kclpj wrote

Hi this is a great question! I used to be a speech-language pathologist, specializing in aphasia. Researchers have used TMS (and TDCS) to help people with aphasia recover. I know some folks who conducted some of that research and also sent a couple of my clients to participate in TMS clinical trials.

To my knowledge no one has studied giving people aphasia on purpose. I think it would be kind of unethical to purposely try to impair a patient’s function, even if temporarily.

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Brain_Hawk t1_j0mcv2y wrote

I think it would be virtually impossible to actually give somebody prolonged aphasia. The effects of brain stimulation are fairly subtle. And the case is something like stroke, it can induce some neuroplasticity which can Aid in healing. Likewise, over many treatment sessions it can reduce people's depression by modulating some brain activity. But it's generally not considered to be feasible to induce what essentially amounts to a lesion in anything other than a very transitory Way by measuring functional changes while the rtms is actually on. As in, you have a 4-second pulse and you can see how disrupting activity during that time affects Behavior

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