IS 12. Plasticity in stroke patients: Why brain stimulation may (not) work

Advances in brain imaging techniques allow us to study not just what the brain looks like but how it works. When applied to people who have suffered a stroke this technology has demonstrated reorganization of the way surviving brain regions function. These findings give hope to the idea that new treatments can be designed and more effectively targeted towards individual patients.So how can we measure these changes in organization in the human brain? Brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have developed to the point where a detailed appreciation of the damage to brain structures and their connections is possible. Not only this, but we can determine whether an apparently healthy parts of the brain are functioning normally. Changes in the pattern of brain activation during movement of an affected limb can be measured over the first few weeks and months after stroke. Studies have already suggested that after stroke-related damage reorganization within surviving brain regions and networks can help maximize recovery. For example, parts of the brain normally only involved in more complex movements help recovery of simple movements after stroke. Over time, it seems that these more extensive patterns of brain activity can be modified towards a more normal pattern during recovery. This ‘focusing’ is very similar to that seen during learning of a new complex motor task in healthy adults. However, this reorganisation can only take place within b...
Source: Clinical Neurophysiology - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Society Proceedings Source Type: research