The left M1 intermittent theta burst stimulation(iTBS)modulated the topological properties of the brain functional network in stroke patients
Objective:To explore the overall modulatory effect of the intermittent theta burst stimulation(iTBS),a novel non-invasive brain stimulation technique,on the topology of the brain functional network in stroke patients.Method:Sixteen patients with stroke were recruited.Based on their brain resting-state functional magnetic reso-nance images,the changes of the brain network topological properties,including the clustering coefficient,characteristic path length,local and global efficiency,"small-world",assortativity and hierarchy,were ana-lyzed before and after one session of left M1 iTBS.Result:The clustering coefficient,local efficiency and normalized hierarchy coefficient decreased significantly after one session of the iTBS,the global efficiency decreased near significantly,and the σ value of"small-world"increased close to significantly;while the other topological properties showed no significant change fol-lowing the iTBS intervention.Conclusion:The findings of the present study indicated that the left M1 iTBS may modulate the global net-work topological characteristics of the brain functional network in patients with stroke.