BackgroundThere is high variability in post-stroke aphasia severity and predicting recovery remains imprecise. Standard prognostics do not include neurophysiological indicators or genetic biomarkers of neuroplasticity, which may be... more
BackgroundThere is high variability in post-stroke aphasia severity and predicting recovery remains imprecise. Standard prognostics do not include neurophysiological indicators or genetic biomarkers of neuroplasticity, which may be critical sources of variability.ObjectiveTo evaluate whether a common polymorphism (Val66Met) in the gene for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) contributes to variability in post-stroke language recovery, and to assess whether BDNF polymorphism interacts with neurophysiological indicators of neuroplasticity to improve estimates of aphasia severity.MethodsSaliva samples and motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were collected from participants with chronic aphasia subsequent to left-hemisphere stroke. MEPs were collected prior to continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS; index for cortical excitability) and 10 minutes following cTBS (index for stimulation-induced neuroplasticity) to the left primary motor cortex. Analyses assessed the extent to which BDNF ...
