1Hz rTMS über dem primärmotorischen Kortex der nicht betroffenen Hemisphäre steigt die Effizienz eines motorischen Handtrainings in der Rehabilitation von Handfunktionsstörungen nach Schlaganfall

Podubecka J, Theilig S, Bösl K, Sarfeld A-S, Nowak D-A. 1Hz rTMS über dem primärmotorischen Kortex der nicht betroffenen Hemisphäre steigt die Effizienz eines motorischen Handtrainings in der Rehabilitation von Handfunktionsstörungen nach Schlaganfall. Neurologie und Rehabilitation . 2010;16(6):322

1Hz rTMS über dem primärmotorischen Kortex der nicht betroffenen Hemisphäre in Kombination mit funktioneller Elektrotherapie in der Rehabilitation von schweren Handfunktionsstörungen nach Schlaganfall

Theilig S, Podubecka J, Bösl K, Sarfeld A-S, Nowak D-A. 1Hz rTMS über dem primärmotorischen Kortex der nicht betroffenen Hemisphäre in Kombination mit funktioneller Elektrotherapie in der Rehabilitation von schweren Handfunktionsstörungen nach Schlaganfall. Neurologie und Rehabilitation . 2010;16(6):309

The effects of 1 Hz rTMS preconditioned by tDCS on gait kinematics in Parkinson’s disease

Hypokinetic gait is a common and very disabling symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the motor cortex has been used with variable effectiveness to treat hypokinesia in PD. Preconditioning rTMS by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may enhance its effectiveness to treat hypokinetic gait in PD. Three-dimensional kinematic gait analysis was performed (1) prior to, (2) immediately after and (3) 30 min after low-frequency rTMS (1 Hz, 900 pulses, 80 % of resting motor threshold) over M1 contralateral to the more affected body side preconditioned by (1) cathodal, (2) anodal or (3) sham tDCS (amperage: 1 mA, duration: 10 min) in ten subjects with PD (7 females, mean age 63 ± 9 years) and ten healthy subjects (four females, mean age 50 ± 11 years). The effects of tDCS-preconditioned rTMS on gait kinematics were assessed by the following parameters: number of steps, step length, stride length, double support time, cadence, swing and stance phases. Our data suggest a bilateral improvement of hypokinetic gait in PD after 1 Hz rTMS over M1 of the more affected body side preceded by anodal tDCS. In contrast, 1 Hz rTMS alone (preceded by sham tDCS) and 1 Hz rTMS preceded by cathodal tDCS were ineffective to improve gait kinematics in PD. In healthy subjects, gait kinematics was unaffected by either intervention. Preconditioning motor cortex rTMS by tDCS is a promising approach to treat hypokinetic gait in PD

Interindividual differences in motor network connectivity and behavioral response to iTBS in stroke patients

Cerebral plasticity-inducing approaches like repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) are of high interest in situations where reorganization of neural networks can be observed, e.g., after stroke. However, an increasing number of studies suggest that improvements in motor performance of the stroke-affected hand following modulation of primary motor cortex (M1) excitability by rTMS shows a high interindividual variability. We here tested the hypothesis that in stroke patients the interindividual variability of behavioral response to excitatory rTMS is related to interindividual differences in network connectivity of the stimulated region. Chronic stroke patients (n= 14) and healthy controls (n = 12) were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a simple hand motor task. Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) was used to investigate effective connectivity of key motor regions. On two different days after the fMRI experiment, patients received either intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) over ipsilesional M1 or control stimulation over the parieto-occipital cortex. Motor performance and TMS parameters of cortical excitability were measured before and after iTBS. Our results revealed that patients with better motor performance of the affected hand showed stronger endogenous coupling between supplemental motor area (SMA) and M1 before starting the iTBS intervention. Applying iTBS to ipsilesional M1 significantly increased ipsilesional M1 excitability and decreased contralesional M1 excitability as compared to control stimulation. Individual behavioral improvements following iTBS specifically correlated with neural coupling strengths in the stimulated hemisphere prior to stimulation, especially for connections targeting the stimulated M1. Combining endogenous connectivity and behavioral parameters explained 82% of the variance in hand motor performance observed after iTBS. In conclusion, the data suggest that the individual susceptibility to iTBS after stroke is influenced by interindividual differences in motor network connectivity of the lesioned hemisphere

Motor cortex excitability and connectivity in chronic stroke: a multimodal model of functional reorganization

Cerebral ischemia triggers a cascade of cellular processes, which induce neuroprotection, inflammation, apoptosis and regeneration. At the neural network level, lesions concomitantly induce cerebral plasticity. Yet, many stroke survivors are left with a permanent motor deficit, and only little is known about the neurobiological factors that determine functional outcome after stroke. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are non-invasive approaches that allow insights into the functional (re-) organization of the cortical motor system. We here combined neuronavigated TMS, MRI and analyses of connectivity to investigate to which degree recovery of hand function depends on corticospinal tract (CST) damage and biomarkers of cerebral plasticity like cortical excitability and motor network effective connectivity. As expected, individual motor performance of 12 stroke patients with persistent motor deficits was found to depend upon the degree of CST damage but also motor cortex excitability and interhemispheric connectivity. In addition, the data revealed a strong correlation between reduced ipsilesional motor cortex excitability and reduced interhemispheric inhibition in severely impaired patients. Interindividual differences in ipsilesional motor cortex excitability were stronger related to the motor deficit than abnormal interhemispheric connectivity or CST damage. Multivariate linear regression analysis combining the three factors accounted for more than 80 % of the variance in functional impairment. The inter-relation of cortical excitability and reduced interhemispheric inhibition provides direct multi-modal evidence for the disinhibition theory of the contralesional hemisphere following stroke. Finally, our data reveal a key mechanism (i.e., the excitability-related reduction in interhemispheric inhibition) accounting for the rehabilitative potential of novel therapeutic approaches which aim at modulating cortical excitability in stroke patients