Inhibition of contralesional motor cortex improves motor sequence learning in chronic stroke patients

Background: Motor learning mechanisms interact with rehabilitative training and are a key component for stroke recovery. Recent studies demonstrated that decreasing activity in ipsilateral motor cortex could be beneficial to transiently improve motor function after stroke. However, the question remains open whether this intervention will also improve motor learning. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that down-regulation of the contralesional motor cortex (cM1) by the paretic hand will enhance the learning process of a motor sequence task in chronic stroke patients. Methods: 12 chronic stroke p…