Aphasia Physical EXercise Study: Randomized Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effects of a high-intensity exercise program on recovery in individuals with post-stroke aphasia. The high-intensity exercise program has been specifically designed for individuals with post-stroke aphasia and includes an interval training full-body workout, which can increase cardiovascular fitness, improve muscle strength and motor performance, and maximize cognitive and language gains. The main question this study aims to answer is: • Does participation in a high-intensity exercise program lead to changes in physical health, language, cognitive, motor recovery, psychological and/or psychosocial domains? Participants will be randomly assigned to either a high-intensity exercise program (target intervention) or a low-intensity exercise program (control intervention) delivered over 12-weeks in a group setting. Outcome measures will be collected once immediately after the intervention period and once during the following 12-week maintenance period to capture short- and long-term effects of the exercise program.

NCT Number	NCT07281313
Lead Sponsor	University of California, Berkeley Collaborators: University of California, San Francisco, California State University, East Bay, University of San Francisco, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Conditions	Aphasia, Acquired, Aphasia, Aphasia, Fluent, Aphasia, Non-fluent, Aphasia Following Cerebral Infarction, Aphasia Following Nontraumatic Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Enrollment	120 participants
Start Date	2025-12-01
Primary Completion	2029-12-31 (estimated)
Study Completion	2030-03-01 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-03-19