Investigating the Effects of Combining rTMS With Visual Feedback Training to Improve Movements in the Paretic Lower Limb and Gait Performance

After stroke, patients often experience motor deficits that interrupt normal lower extremity movement and gait function. Recent developments in neuroimaging have focus on the reasons why some patients recover well while some do poorly. However, there is still no consensus on the exact mechanisms involved in regaining the functions after rehabilitation. Application of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to facilitate neural plasticity during stroke treatment has recently gained considerable attention. The possible mechanism through which rTMS acts is based on the interhemispheric competition (IHC) model, which explains that patients with stroke experience alterations in cortical excitability and exhibit abnormally high interhemispheric inhibition from the unaffected hemisphere to the affected hemisphere. The visual feedback training can improve postural control and enhance motor performance. Several rTMS studies have evaluated the lower extremity dysfunction following stroke, but few studies have explored the efficacy of applying rTMS on the lower extremities. We expect the study can help us to further exploration of the change of clinical function and cortical excitability following rTMS and visual feedback training in subjects with stroke. In addition, the results of this project will be provided for further rehabilitation programs in people with stroke.