REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurorehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1587060
This article is part of the Research TopicNeurorehabilitative and regenerative methods involved in treating traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries: Volume IIView all 4 articles
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Enhancing Motor Function After Spinal Cord Injury: A Narrative Review
Provisionally accepted
- 1University at Buffalo, Buffalo, United States
- 2University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to disabilities that significantly impact quality of life, highlighting the need for effective rehabilitation strategies. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has emerged as a promising neuromodulatory approach to enhance neuronal plasticity and promote motor recovery following SCI. This narrative review examines the current state of evidence regarding the therapeutic use of rTMS for motor function recovery after SCI and outlines key methodological considerations to guide future research. To address these aims, we summarize various rTMS techniques and evaluate their overall efficacy in improving motor function in individuals with SCI. Among the fourteen studies reviewed, early rTMS protocols primarily utilized low-frequency stimulation, whereas more recent approaches have adopted higher frequencies and more complex patterned protocols. Despite considerable heterogeneity in stimulation parameters, most studies reported beneficial effects of rTMS, including reduction in spasticity and improvements in voluntary motor function of both upper and lower limbs. These findings demonstrate that rTMS holds promise as an effective tool for SCI rehabilitation, with limited to moderate evidence supporting reductions in spasticity, increased muscle strength, and enhanced functional outcomes. However, many of these findings are derived from small sample sizes, varied protocols, and studies lacking rigorous control conditions. The review emphasizes the need for standardized functional and electrophysiological assessments to systematically evaluate motor outcomes following rTMS interventions. Additionally, larger, well-controlled clinical trials incorporating consistent physical therapy protocols are essential to confirm the efficacy of rTMS.
Keywords: Repetitive TMS, neuroplasticity, spinal cord injury, motor rehabilitation, iTBS
Received: 03 Mar 2025; Accepted: 20 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Benavides, Shine, Stefanovic, Chen and Jo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hang Jin Jo, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, United States
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