• Posted August 27, 2026

Implant Improves Speech After Brain Injury

A brain implant might be able to improve speech and swallowing problems that can occur following a traumatic brain injury, a new study says.

The implant delivers low-frequency electrical stimulation to the motor thalamus, a deep brain region connected to the motor cortex, researchers said. 

In the small-scale study, this deep brain stimulation increased activation of face and throat muscles among eight people who were receiving the implant to treat uncontrollable tremors. 

The implant also improved facial muscle movement, swallowing and speech control in a single patient who’d suffered a traumatic brain injury in a motor vehicle accident, researchers said.

This patient’s ability to speak clearly improved by as much as 20% when stimulation was applied, researchers found.

“Rehabilitating speech deficits after an injury is a top priority for many people, often even more than mobility,” co-senior researcher Elvira Pirondini said in a news release.

“For many people, losing speech affects work, independence and relationships. It can have a profound effect on a person’s life,” Pirondini said. She is an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh.

More than 5 million people in the United States suffer from speech and swallowing problems, researchers said in background notes.

Deep brain stimulation currently is used as a therapy for some neurological conditions, including tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease, researchers said.

However, the implant’s ability to help restore speech remains controversial, researchers noted.

For the new study, researchers tested the usefulness of stimulation frequencies nearly three-fold lower than the high-frequency electrical impulses used to treat other conditions. High-frequency stimulation has been previously shown to have a suppressive, negative effect on speech, the team said.

“This study shows that stimulation parameters matter,” co-senior researcher Dr. Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez, a professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, said in a news release.

“By targeting the correct brain circuit with low-frequency stimulation, we may be able to support the remaining pathways that help patients speak and swallow after brain injury,” he said.

However, larger studies are needed to test safety, effectiveness and long-term outcomes involving more patients across many different types of brain injuries, including stroke, researchers said.

The findings were published recently in the journal Nature Communication.

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more about deep brain stimulation.

SOURCE: University of Pittsburgh, news release, Aug. 21, 2026