Electroencephalography Mu Rhythm Changes and Decreased Spasticity After Repetitive Peripheral Magnetic Stimulation in Patients Following Stroke

Abstract

Background: Spasticity is common among patients with stroke. Repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation (rPMS) is a painless and noninvasive therapy that is a promising approach to reducing spasticity. However, the central mechanism of this therapy remains unclear. Changes in cortical activity and decreased spasticity after rPMS intervention require further exploration. The aim of this study was to explore the electroencephalography (EEG) mu rhythm change and decrease in spasticity after rPMS intervention in patients with stroke. Materials and methods: A total of 32 patients with spasticity following stroke were recruited in this study and assigned to the rPMS group ( n = 16) or sham group ( n = 16). The modified Ashworth scale, modified Tardieu scale, and Fugl–Meyer assessment of the upper extremity were used to assess changes in upper limb spasticity and motor function. Before and after the rPMS intervention, EEG evaluation was performed to detect EEG mu rhythm changes in the brain. Results: After one session of rPMS intervention, spasticity was reduced in elbow flexors ( p < 0.05) and wrist flexors ( p < 0.05). Upper limb motor function measured according to the Fugl–Meyer assessment was improved ( p < 0.05). In the rPMS group, the power of event-related desynchronization decreased in the mu rhythm band (8–12 Hz) in the contralesional hemisphere ( p < 0.05). Conclusions: The results indicate that rPMS intervention reduced spasticity. Cortical activity changes may suggest this favorable change in terms of its neurological effects on the central nervous system.

Event-Related Desynchronization and Corticomuscular Coherence Observed During Volitional Swallow by Electroencephalography Recordings in Humans

“…Recently, event-related desynchronizations (ERDs) involved in the process of swallow have been reported in bilateral sensorimotor areas using magnetoencephalography (MEG) (Dziewas et al, 2003;Suntrup et al, 2013Suntrup et al, , 2014Suntrup et al, , 2015. Generally, ERDs are a decrease of the power in the alpha and beta frequency bands during voluntary movements when compared with that during the rest (nonmovement) (Pfurtscheller and Lopes da Silva, 1999;Li et al, 2018;Chen et al, 2020;Spadone et al, 2020;Xie et al, 2021). They are supposed to reflect cortical activities during voluntary movements (Pfurtscheller and Lopes da Silva, 1999).…”

Effects of repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation on spasticity evaluated with modified Ashworth scale/Ashworth scale in patients with spastic paralysis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The overall risk of bias of the eight included studies are summarized in Figure 2, and the assessment results of the five domains and the overall bias for individual studies are shown in As no difference among the results of risk of bias for each outcome assessed in per study, the main outcome of the current review was selected to present in the Figure 3. Overall, one study (19) was assessed to be of high risk of bias and two (20,21) had some concerns, the others were at low risk of bias (22)(23)(24)(25)(26). Most of studies described a random sequence clearly, only one study (19) has high risk in randomization process.…”

“…After a series of literature screening and qualification confirmation, eight RCTs (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26) were selected for systematic review, and six were presented in the form of a metaanalysis. Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of the included studies and patients with spastic paralysis.…”

Case Report: Event-Related Desynchronization Observed During Volitional Swallow by Electroencephalography Recordings in ALS Patients With Dysphagia

“…ALS patients with dysphagia showed less cortical activity in the bilateral sensorimotor areas during volitional self-paced swallowing, compared with healthy subjects in a previous magnetoencephalography (MEG) study using event-related desynchronization (ERD) (Teismann et al, 2011 ). ERD is a decrease in power spectral density in the alpha (10–12 Hz) and beta frequency bands (15–25 Hz) observed during voluntary movements and is thought to reflect motor-related cortical activity (Pfurtscheller and Lopes Da Silva, 1999 ; Li et al, 2018 ; Chen et al, 2020 ; Spadone et al, 2020 ; Xie et al, 2021 ). The ERDs within the beta frequency band (13–30 Hz) in bilateral sensorimotor areas were less prominent in patients with ALS, and the lower the ERD, the more severe the dysphagia they had (Teismann et al, 2011 ), suggesting that the reduced ERD reflected the disturbed function of the degenerated cortico-motoneurons.…”