Theta burst stimulation a new paradigm of non-invasive brain stimulation for post-stroke upper limb motor rehabilitation

Objectives: The aim of this study was to perform a brief review of studies which investigated the effects of theta burst stimulation (TBS) as a new paradigm of non-invasive brain stimulation on the upper limb motor function in patients with stroke. Materials and methods: We searched studies published between January 1990 and October 2015 at PubMed, Medline, Cochrane, and CINAHL databases using the following key words: stroke and theta burst stimulation. Results: Eleven of 67 studies met the inclusion criteria. Of these, six studies used multiple sessions of TBS intervention. The results of the selected studies showed a significant improvement in the upper limb motor functions in nine studies, whereas one study did not show any change after the TBS intervention. One of the selected study showed a negative trend in motor functions after the application of TBS. Conclusion: Our study showed that TBS had a positive effect on motor recovery in patients with stroke. Combination of both intermittent TBS to the ipsilesional hemisphere and continuous TBS to the contralesional hemispheres would be more effective than the single application of any one of these technique.