Transcranial magnetic stimulation as a complementary treatment for aphasia.
Functional brain imaging with nonfluent aphasia patients has shown increased cortical activation (perhaps "overactivation") in right (R) hemisphere language homologues. These areas of overactivation may represent a maladaptive strategy that interferes with, rather than promotes, aphasia recovery. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a painless, noninvasive procedure that utilizes magnetic fields to create electric currents in discrete brain areas affecting about a 1-cm square area of cortex. Slow frequency, 1 Hz rTMS reduces cortical excitability. When rTMS is applied to an appropriate cortical region, it may suppress the possible overactivation and thus modulate a distributed neural network for language. We provide information on rTMS and report preliminary results following rTMS application to R Broca's area (posterior, R pars triangularis) in four stroke patients with nonfluent aphasia (5-11 years after left hemisphere stroke). Following 10 rTMS treatments, significant improvement in naming pictures was observed. This form of rTMS may provide a novel, complementary treatment for aphasia.
Martin
Paula I
PI
Boston University School of Medicine and VA Boston Healthcare System, Neuroimaging/Aphasia Research, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation/Aphasia Research and Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02130,USA. paulak@bu.edu
Naeser
Margaret A
MA
Theoret
Hugo
H
Tormos
Jose Maria
JM
Nicholas
Marjorie
M
Kurland
Jacquie
J
Fregni
Felipe
F
Seekins
Heidi
H
Doron
Karl
K
Pascual-Leone
Alvaro
A
D001037:Aphasia / Q000628:therapy*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation