Excitatory deep transcranial magnetic stimulation with H-coil over the right homologous Broca's region improves naming in chronic post-stroke aphasia

Raffaella Chieffo, Federico Ferrari, Petronilla Battista, Elise Houdayer, Arturo Nuara, Federica Alemanno, Jubin Abutalebi, Abraham Zangen, Giancarlo Comi, Stefano F. Cappa, Letizia Leocani

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background. The role of the right hemisphere in poststroke aphasia recovery is still controversial and the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the right homologous Broca's region have been seldom investigated. Objective. This study aimed to compare the effect of excitatory, inhibitory, and sham rTMS delivered with H-coil over the right inferior frontal gyrus in chronic aphasic patients. Methods. Five right-handed poststroke aphasic patients underwent a picture naming task before and immediately after each of 3 sessions of rTMS: excitatory (10 Hz), inhibitory (1 Hz), and sham rTMS, in random sequence and separated by at least 1 week. Results. Only the excitatory 10-Hz stimulation was associated with a significant improvement in naming performance (P =.043) and was significantly more effective than 1-Hz rTMS (P =.043). Conclusions. A single session of excitatory deep brain rTMS over the right inferior frontal gyrus with H-coil significantly improves naming in right-handed chronic poststroke aphasic patients. This result is in line with the hypothesis of a positive, rather than detrimental, role of the right hemisphere in chronic aphasia due to a left-hemispheric stroke.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)291-298
Number of pages8
JournalNeurorehabilitation and Neural Repair
Volume28
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2014

Keywords

  • H-coil
  • aphasia
  • rTMS
  • stroke rehabilitation
  • transcranial magnetic stimulation

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Clinical Neurology
  • Neurology
  • Rehabilitation

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