Abstract: Studies have confirmed that low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation can decrease the activity of cortical neurons, and high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation can increase the excitability of cortical neurons. However, there are few studies concerning the use of di?erent frequencies of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the recovery of upper-limb motor function afer cerebral infarction. We hypothesized that di?erent frequencies of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with cerebral infarction would produce di?erent e?ects on the recovery of upper-limb motor function. Tis study enrolled 127 patients with upper-limb dysfunction during the subacute phase of cerebral infarction. Tese patients were randomly assigned to three groups. Te low-frequency group comprised 42 patients who were treated with 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the contralateral hemisphere primary motor cortex (M1). Te high-frequency group comprised 43 patients who were treated with 10 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on ipsilateral M1. Finally, the sham group comprised 42 patients who were treated with 10 Hz of false stimulation on ipsilateral M1. A total of 135 seconds of stimulation was applied in the sham group and high-frequency group. At 2 weeks afer treatment, cortical latency of motor-evoked potentials and central motor conduction time were signifcantly lower compared with before treatment. Moreover, motor function scores were signifcantly improved. Te above indices for the low- and high-frequency groups were signifcantly di?erent compared with the sham group. However, there was no signifcant di?erence between the low- and high-frequency groups. Te results show that low- and high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation can similarly improve upper-limb motor function in patients with cerebral infarction.

Key words: nerve regeneration, brain injury, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, cerebral infarction, low-frequency stimulation, high-frequency stimulation, upper-limb motor function, cerebral cortex, stroke rehabilitation, motor-evoked potential, central motor conduction time, primary motor cortex, neuroplasticity, neural reorganization, neural regeneration