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. 2026 Feb 25;43(1):26-33.
doi: 10.7507/1001-5515.202508021.

[Microstate dynamics in motor imagery of stroke patients with transcranial alternating current stimulation modulation]

[Article in Chinese]
Lei Song  1   2 , Ying Zhang  3   4 , Yujia Wei  2   5 , Yuqing Liu  2   5 , Chunfang Wang  3   4 , Guizhi Xu  1   2   5
Affiliations

[Microstate dynamics in motor imagery of stroke patients with transcranial alternating current stimulation modulation]

[Article in Chinese]
Lei Song et al. Sheng Wu Yi Xue Gong Cheng Xue Za Zhi. .

Abstract
in English, Chinese

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) holds significant potential for improving motor function in stroke patients, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, 20 Hz tACS was applied to 15 stroke patients, and their motor imagery (MI) signals were collected before and after stimulation, which were for assessment by combining with the Fugl-Meyer Assessment for Upper Extremity (FMA-UE). Additionally, 11 subjects were recruited as a healthy control group. The study demonstrated that FMA-UE scores of stroke patients significantly increased after tACS intervention. The duration of EEG microstate C and F decreased significantly, while microstate D (coverage, duration, and occurrence probability) increased markedly, and microstate E decreased. The transition probabilities of C→D and D→B were positively correlated with FMA-UE scores. Based on these findings, this study concludes that 20 Hz tACS can enhance neuroplasticity and motor function in patients, and the transition probabilities (C→D/D→B) may serve as potential indicators for assessing motor function, providing experimental evidence for the clinical application of tACS and the development of rehabilitation brain-computer interfaces.

经颅交流电刺激（tACS）对改善脑卒中患者运动功能具有较大应用潜力，但其潜在机制尚不明确。本研究对15名脑卒中患者施加频率为20 Hz的tACS，采集其接受刺激前后的运动想象（MI）信号，并结合运动功能评定量表（FMA-UE）进行评估。同时，本研究还招募11名受试者作为健康对照组。研究表明，tACS后脑卒中患者的FMA-UE评分明显增加；脑电微状态C、F持续时间明显减少，而微状态D（覆盖率、持续时间、出现概率）明显增加，微状态E减少；从微状态C转移到微状态D（C→D）和从微状态D转移到微状态B（D→B）的转移概率与FMA-UE评分正相关。通过上述结果，本研究发现频率为20 Hz的tACS可改善患者神经可塑性及运动功能，而转移概率（C→D/D→B）可作为评估运动功能的潜在指标，为tACS的临床应用及康复脑机接口开发提供了实验依据。.

Keywords: Microstate; Motor imagery; Stroke; Transcranial alternating current stimulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

利益冲突声明：本文全体作者均声明不存在利益冲突。

Figures

图 1
图 1
Flow chart of experiment 试验流程
图 2
图 2
Comparison of FMA-UE scores before and after stimulation 刺激前后FMA-UE量表评分对比
图 3
图 3
Comparison of spatial topological maps across pre-stimulation, post-stimulation and HC groups 患者刺激前后和HC组的微状态拓扑图差异对比
图 4
图 4
Comparison of microstate parameters across pre-stimulation, post-stimulation and HC groups 刺激前后和HC组微状态参数对比
图 5
图 5
Comparison of pre/post-stimulation transition probability 刺激前后微状态转移概率对比
图 6
图 6
Correlation between microstate transition probability and the FMA-UE scale 微状态转移概率和FMA-UE量表之间的相关性
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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