Cranial Nerve Neuromodulation to Improve Arm Function and Brain Plasticity in Stroke

The strength training program will last 4 weeks (3 X/week, 60 minutes). Using dead weights, the 1RM (i.e. the maximal load that an individual can lift once) will be estimated by the 10RM for the wrist extensors and the elbow and shoulder flexors. The grip muscles of the affected hand will also be trained with a JAMAR® dynamometer. Depending on each participant's intensity training group, training will start at 35%, 50% or 70% of 1RM and will be increased by 5% each week to reach, by week 4, 50%, 65% and 85%, for the low, moderate, and high-intensity group, respectively.

For the first 20 minutes of each training session, CN-NINM will be applied (50 μsec at 150 Hz), using a portable stimulator (Cthulhu Shield, USA) with a network of 18 electrodes, directly on the participants' tongue. The participants will hold the device in place by pressing their tongue upwards and the intensity of the stimulus will be set by each participant to a comfortable level of sensation (experimental group) or set by a trainer to a non-perceivable stimulus (control group).