Stimulating specific brain area could help defrost arms frozen by stroke

Little can be done to help the hundreds of thousands of people whose severe strokes have left them with one arm stuck close to the sides of their bodies like a broken wing. A 30-patient study, however, has found that magnetically stimulating a specific part of their brains can affect arm movements -- raising hope that, in the future, a short course of therapy targeting this area could help to free the arm and restore some use of the stroke-affected limb.