Interaction Between the Brain Hemispheres - Key to Motor Recovery After Stroke
Objective: To determine if contralesional cTBS normalizes interhemispheric inhibition from the contralesional to ipsilesional primary motor cortex stroke patients with motor impairments. Age-matched healthy persons will serve as controls. Study design: A prospective, open-label within-subject intervention study Study population: 40 patients with first-ever ischemic stroke in one hemisphere and a unilateral paresis of the upper extremity, and 40 age-matched controls. Main endpoints: Primary endpoint: Interhemispheric inhibition from the contralesional to ipsilesional primary motor cortex. Secondary endpoints: contralesional intracortical inhibition; effect of contralesional TMS interference on finger tapping frequency.
• Age ≥ 18 years;
• First-ever ischemic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage in a cerebral hemisphere or the brainstem;
• Unilateral paresis of an upper extremity with a Motricity Index (MI) between 9 and 99
• Inclusion possible between 3 weeks and 6 weeks after stroke onset;
• Signed informed consent.
• Age ≥ 18 years;
• Signed informed consent.
• Normal motor function with a minimum Motricity Index (MI) of 99.