The overarching goal of the THALES project awarded to the University Of Athens titled Levels of impairment in Greek Aphasia: relationship with processing deficits, brain region and therapeutic implications was to document the linguistic and cognitive symptoms of aphasia, an acquired language disorder after stroke, for speakers of Standard Modern Greek. Furthermore, the research aimed to inform clinical aphasia practice by investigating therapeutic implications. It is important to highlight that this is the first in-depth study on the topic carried out in Greece. It serves as a major step to increase the evidence base of aphasia research and facilitate the translation of the best available evidence into practice for researchers, clinicians, patients and policy makers (e.g., Ministry of Health). The research had four specific aims:

• To provide an in-depth investigation of different linguistic levels in aphasia and their interrelations.
• To study the relationship between other neuropsychological disorders and aphasic disorders.
• To evaluate aphasic disorders, their symptoms and level of severity, in relation to the location and extent of left-hemisphere damage.
• To provide an in-depth investigation of the efficacy of different types of therapy intervention in aphasia.

The project was carried out by an interdisciplinary team of academics and clinicians from different backgrounds, including linguistics, neurolinguistics, neuropsychology, cognitive science, neurology, and speech and language therapy.

Three core groups were formed within the research program headed by a coordinator with an academic background directly related to the topic: (a) the Neurolinguistics Group (coordinator: Prof. S. Varlokosta) with 6 internal academics, 2 students and 3 external academics/researchers; (b) the Neuropsychology Group (coordinator: Assistant Prof. A Economou) with 4 internal academics, 3 students and 1 external researcher; and (c) the Speech and Language Therapy Group (coordinator: Associate Prof. I. Papathanasiou) with 3 internal academic researchers and 2 certified practicing speech and language therapists. Each group investigated a specific area (termed “action”) as related to the general aims of the research. Each action had its own set of deliverables. The methodology of each action are evaluated below in terms of materials developed, the participant groups that took part, and the analysis of the results.