Is the contralesional hemisphere a suitable target for noninvasive brain stimulation after stroke?

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability and there are no treatments that can repair neural damage that results from stroke. Functional recovery for many patients is modest and therefore adjuvants to traditional therapies are urgently required. This talk will revisit the use of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) as a potential adjuvant for stroke rehabilitation, which is well documented in clinical neurophysiological research, but not routinely used in clinical practice. One tenet is that functional restoration may be enhanced using techniques that increase excitability in the hemisphere in which the lesion has occurred, through LTP-like mechanisms, and this has led to some promising outcomes.
Source: BRAIN STIMULATION: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation - Category: Neurology Authors: Source Type: research