Repetitive magnetic stimulation of the brain (rTMS) improves patient movement on the side of the body affected by the stroke.
![Magnetic stimulation helps stroke rehab Magnetic stimulation helps stroke rehab](https://drop.ndtv.com/images/story-noimage.png?q=50)
It was found that active rTMS was associated with significant improvements in movement in the affected hand over the study period, but no improvements were seen with the fake rTMS. At the same time, brain activity decreased in the unaffected side, and it increased in the affected side in the active treatment patients. In a simple reaction-time task, patients were an average of 30 percent faster after five days of rTMS and the effect persisted for 2 weeks. Interestingly, the improvement was cumulative. Patients were, on average, 10, 20, 27, and 30 percent faster on days two, three, four, and five, respectively. These movement improvements were significant compared to fake stimulation.The findings indicate that the magnitude and duration of movement benefits can be safely increased after more than one rTMS session. With five consecutive sessions, sustained improvements in movement in stroke patients were noted over the 2-week study period. There was no evidence that five sessions of rTMS adversely affected the patients' thinking ability or promoted seizures.
The researchers call for larger studies to replicate their findings and to maximize response to treatment.
June 2006
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