Improved Picture Naming in Chronic Aphasia after Tms to Part of Right Broca's Area: An Open-Protocol Study.

Functional imaging studies with nonfluent aphasia patients have observed ‘‘over-activation’’ in right (R) language homologues. This may represent a maladaptive strategy; suppression may result in language improvement. We applied slow, 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to an anterior portion of R Brocas homologue daily, for 10 days in four aphasia patients who were 5–11 years poststroke. Significant improvement was observed in picture naming at 2 months post-rTMS, with lasting benefit at 8 months in three patients. This preliminary, open trial suggests that rTMS may provide a novel treatment approach for aphasia by possibly modulating the distributed, bi-hemispheric language network. Published by Elsevier Inc.