The central hypothesis of this study is that rPMS is a suitable priming technique for enhancing motor skill performance in individuals with stroke. The investigators plan to test our hypothesis by pursuing the following specific aim:~To determine whether rPMS can facilitate lower limb's motor skill performance more than sham rPMS in individuals with stroke.~Hypothesis: The effect of stimulation on lower limb's motor skill performance will be measured using a visuomotor tracking task at different time points: baseline, immediately after, at 30 minutes, and 60 minutes after stimulation. Individuals with stroke during the rPMS condition will demonstrate greater motor skill performance following rPMS and will be able to sustain the enhanced performance at 30 and 60 minutes after the stimulation, compared to sham condition.~This study will improve our understanding of the effects of rPMS, thus encouraging the use of a single session of rPMS as a priming tool to enhance motor skill performance. The proposal is important as it is the first to study the time course effects of rPMS on lower limb's motor skill performance in stroke populations.
In the past two decades, even as stroke cases increase around the world, advances in motor rehabilitation have been limited. Clinical trials of stroke rehabilitation have examined the therapeutic utility of several neuromodulatory devices to improve efficacy of motor training. However, there is limited knowledge on the effects of sensory-based priming techniques using repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation (rPMS) post stroke. This project focuses on understanding the effect of rPMS on motor skill performance in persons with stroke.