Screening diagnosis of executive dysfunction after ischemic stroke and the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation: A prospective functional near‐infrared spectroscopy study

BACKGROUND: Post‐ischemic stroke executive impairment (PISEI) is a serious obstacle for patients to returning to their society and is currently difficult to screen early and clinically ineffective. AIM: The aim of the study was to clarify whether functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can be used as a rapid screening tool for PISEI and to explore the efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in PISEI patients and the changes in brain function. METHODS: A single‐blind, randomized controlled study design was used to detect hemodynamic differences by fNIIRS in 16 PISEI patients and 16 healthy subjects during the resting state and Stroop task, respectively. After 3 days, all subjects received a single TMS intervention and underwent simultaneous fNIRS testing for the Stroop task before and 3 days after the TMS intervention. RESULTS: PISEI patients had significantly higher HbO(2) content in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the right pre‐motor cortex (PMC) and the right primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1) during the Stroop task compared to the resting state (F = 141.966, p < 0.001), but significantly lower than healthy subjects (T = −3.413, p = 0.002). After TMS intervention, PISEI patients' time and error number scores on the Stroop test were significantly enhanced, and the functional activity of the above‐mentioned brain regions was significantly more active than at baseline, while the strength of their functional connections with each other was markedly increased. CONCLUSIONS: fNIRS helped screen and diagnose PISEI. A single TMS session benefited PISEI patients with effects lasting 3 days, which may be attributed to activation of the left DLPFC, right PMC and right SM1 brain regions.