Functional MRI-Based Therapeutic rTMS Strategy for Aphasic Stroke Patients: A Case Series Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

Four poststroke patients with motor-dominant aphasia received 10 treatment sessions of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Each treatment session consisted of 1,200 pulses of stimulation and the site of stimulation was an area homologous to the most activated site on functional MRI performed prior to rTMS. Consequently, rTMS was applied to the right frontal lobe in two patients and to the left frontal lobe in two patients. Treatment resulted in improvement of language function in all four patients. Our therapeutic rTMS strategy seems to be a clinically feasible neurorehabilitative approach for poststroke aphasic patients.

KEYWORDS: :

• aphasia
• functional MRI
• language function
• rehabilitation
• repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
• stroke