Resting-State Network Changes Following Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Patients With Aphasia—A Randomized Controlled Study

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has exhibited promising efficacy in treating stroke-related aphasia, changes in neuroimaging in response to this therapy remain unclear. Materials and MethodsBy using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI), we examined brain activations associated with language recovery in patients with poststroke nonfluent aphasia during an rTMS intervention. Twenty-six stroke patients with nonfluent aphasia were recruited in this randomized double-blinded study. The patients received real (n = 13) or sham (n = 13) 1-Hz inhibitory rTMS to the right pars triangularis (PTr) for ten consecutive weekdays. They underwent rsfMRI and completed the Concise Chinese Aphasia Test (CCAT) before and after the rTMS intervention. ResultThe fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) was calculated to investigate spontaneous neural activity in the brain. After treatment, the language function in the experimental group was higher than that in the sham group in terms of total CCAT score (p = 0.014) and the CCAT subscores of conversation (p = 0.012), description (p = 0.006), and expression (p = 0.003). Postintervention intergroup comparisons revealed that fALFF was significantly increased in the right superior temporal gyrus, right dorsolateral prefrontal gyrus, insular cortex, and caudate nucleus. Clusters in the right thalamus exhibited suppressed fALFF. The enhanced clusters in the frontotemporal region were significantly correlated with CCAT score improvements. ConclusionsOur findings provide empirical evidence for the vital role of the right frontotemporal and subcortical regions in language recovery after rTMS interventions in patients with aphasia. Inhibitory rTMS may improve language expression by promoting involvement of the right frontotemporal region. The results can be further used to refine rTMS protocols and optimize brain stimulation treatments. Clinical Trial RegistrationThe Clinicaltrials.gov registration number for the study is NCT03059225.