“Functional rTMS”: Putting the brain to work to enhance brain stimulation post-stroke?

Stroke is characterized by distinct changes in both the ipsilesional and contralesional hemispheres. Decreased integrity of the ipsilesional hemisphere results in decreased excitability of motor pathways in the ipsilesional hemisphere and increased cortical excitability in the contralesional hemisphere (). This pattern of post-stroke excitability is thought to reflect reduced transcallosal inhibition from the ipsi- to contralesional hemisphere that unmasks ipsilateral contributions to the hemiparetic limb and a concomitant increase in transcallosal inhibition from the contralesional hemisphere to ipsilesional motor pathways (). Further, the extent of this imbalance between the ipsi- and contralesional hemispheres has been linked to the severity of motor deficits ().
Source: Clinical Neurophysiology - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Editorials Source Type: research