Occlusion of the middle cerebral artery is the most common cause of stroke. Because the middle cerebral artery supplies blood to the motor cortices, middle cerebral artery stroke often impacts the integrity of the motor cortex and its associated corticospinal projections. Less than half of all individuals post-stroke regain complete motor function. Because motor deficits, especially of the upper extremities, can dampen the quality of life, there is an urgent need to improve current rehabilitation programs to allow more stroke survivors to achieve higher functional gains.~Motor training is an important part of recovery after stroke. During motor training, patients practice performing a movement and become better at performing the trained movement over time. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which uses magnetism to excite neurons near the surface of the brain, may further improve performance. There is evidence that the premotor cortex may be a more effective target than the primary motor cortex for rTMS for some stroke survivors. In the current study, the investigator will determine the effect of rTMS over the premotor cortex on training-related improvements in motor performance in adults who experienced a stroke more than 6 months ago.
The goal of the study is to determine the effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the premotor cortex on training-related improvements in motor performance and associated neural plasticity.