Article

The role of the right hemisphere in poststroke aphasia recovery is
still controversial and the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic
stimulation (rTMS) over the right homologous Broca's region have been seldom
investigated. This study aimed to compare the effect of excitatory,
inhibitory, and sham rTMS delivered with H-coil over the right inferior frontal
gyrus in chronic aphasic patients. METHODS: Five right-handed poststroke aphasic
patients underwent a picture naming task before and immediately after each of 3
sessions of rTMS: excitatory (10 Hz), inhibitory (1 Hz), and sham rTMS, in random
sequence and separated by at least 1 week. RESULTS: Only the excitatory 10-Hz
stimulation was associated with a significant improvement in naming performance
(P = .043) and was significantly more effective than 1-Hz rTMS (P = .043).
CONCLUSIONS: A single session of excitatory deep brain rTMS over the right
inferior frontal gyrus with H-coil significantly improves naming in right-handed
chronic poststroke aphasic patients. This result is in line with the hypothesis
of a positive, rather than detrimental, role of the right hemisphere in chronic
aphasia due to a left-hemispheric stroke.

Langue : ANGLAIS