Non-invasive brain stimulations mainly consist of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation exhibits satisfactory outcomes in improving multiple sclerosis, stroke, spinal cord injury and cerebral palsy-induced spasticity. By contrast, transcranial direct current stimulation has only been studied in post-stroke spasticity. To better validate the efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulations in improving the spasticity post-stroke, more prospective cohort studies involving large sample sizes are needed.
Keywords: central nervous system; motor cortex; muscle spasticity; reviews; stroke; transcranial direct current stimulation; transcranial magnetic stimulation.