The Therapeutic Effect of Inhibitory Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus in Subcortical Aphasia.

, Lee, Ji Hun; , Yoo, Woo Kyoung; , Jung, Kwang Ik; , Kim, Dong Hyun; , Park, Dong Sik; , Im, Hyoung June

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine 2007;31(1):70-77.

Lee, Ji Hun , Yoo, Woo Kyoung , Jung, Kwang Ik , Kim, Dong Hyun , Park, Dong Sik , Im, Hyoung June

¹Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Korea. wooky@hallym.ac.kr
²Department of Ocupational Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Korea.

피질하 실어증에서 우측 하전두엽 억제 반복 경두개 자기자극의 치료 효과

이지훈, 유우경, 정광익, 김동현, 박동식, 임형준¹

한림대학교 의과대학 재활의학교실, ¹산업의학교실

Abstract

Objective
To investigate whether suppression of right inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's homologue) by 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can improve speech recovery.
Method
We applied low frequency rTMS on right Broca's homologue twice a week for 6 weeks in eight subcortical aphasia patients who were 3 months to 3 years poststroke onset. They were tested with Korean Version-Western Aphasia Battery before and after procedure. Also, they were tested with Parallel Short Forms for the Korean-Boston Naming Test and Animal Naming Test serially for outcome measure. rTMS was performed with intensity of 80% of motor threshold for 10 min (600 pulses) at 1 Hz frequency.
Results
Significant improvement was observed in picture naming at post-rTMS only in nonfluent aphasia patients but not in fluent aphasia patients.
Conclusion
rTMS may provide a novel treatment for aphasia by possibly modulating the distributed, bi-hemispheric language network. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2007; 31: 70-77)

Key Words: rTMS, Subcortical aphasia, Inferior frontal lobe, Bi-hemispheric language network