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)
