Individual Alpha Frequency-Based rTMS for Post-Stroke Motor Recovery: Efficacy and Neurophysiological Mechanisms

Kurzzusammenfassung

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a personalized brain stimulation technique, Individual Alpha Frequency (IAF)-based rTMS, for motor function recovery in adult patients with a first-ever ischemic stroke. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does IAF-based rTMS improve upper and lower limb motor recovery better than a sham (placebo) stimulation? 2. How does this personalized stimulation affect brain wave activity (cortical oscillatory dynamics) as measured by EEG? Researchers will compare active IAF-based rTMS with a sham stimulation control in a crossover design to see if the active treatment leads to better clinical motor outcomes and beneficial changes in brain activity. Participants will: 1. Be randomly assigned to one of two sequences: receiving two weeks of active IAF-rTMS followed by two weeks of sham stimulation, or vice versa. 2. Attend 30-minute brain stimulation sessions, targeted at the motor cortex, 5 days a week for a total of 4 weeks. 3. Undergo clinical motor function assessments (including NIHSS, FMA-UE, and FMA-LE) and EEG recordings at three time points: at baseline, after 2 weeks, and at the end of the 4-week study.