Brain Functional Reserve in the Context of Neuroplasticity after Stroke

Abstract

Stroke is the second cause of death and more importantly first cause of disability in people over 40 years of age. Current therapeutic management of ischemic stroke does not provide fully satisfactory outcomes. Stroke management has significantly changed since the time when there were opened modern stroke units with early motor and speech rehabilitation in hospitals. In recent decades, researchers searched for biomarkers of ischemic stroke and neuroplasticity in order to determine effective diagnostics, prognostic assessment, and therapy. Complex background of events following ischemic episode hinders successful design of effective therapeutic strategies. So far, studies have proven that regeneration after stroke and recovery of lost functions may be assigned to neuronal plasticity understood as ability of brain to reorganize and rebuild as an effect of changed environmental conditions. As many neuronal processes influencing neuroplasticity depend on expression of particular genes and genetic diversity possibly influencing its effectiveness, knowledge on their mechanisms is necessary to understand this process. Epigenetic mechanisms occurring after stroke was briefly discussed in this paper including several mechanisms such as synaptic plasticity; neuro-, glio-, and angiogenesis processes; and growth of axon.

Estimating Minimal Clinically Important Differences for Knee Range of Motion after Stroke

“…The shortcomings of the study include the fact that the MCIDs for knee flexion/extension ROM were determined only for patients at a chronic stage post-stroke. Generally, the largest progress in recovery of neuromotor functions is frequently observed during the early period post-stroke [ 45 , 46 ] due to the fact that recovery-related changes within the ischemic penumbra adjacent to the focal lesion occur relatively rapidly following onset, and later the process slows down [ 47 , 48 ]. Therefore, we suspect that the MCIDs determined for chronic stage may be lower than those relevant to acute phase post-stroke.…”

Brain Functional Networks Study of Subacute Stroke Patients With Upper Limb Dysfunction After Comprehensive Rehabilitation Including BCI Training

“…Hebbian plasticity describes the phenomenon of coincident activation of pre-and post-synaptic neurons, leading to a reinforcement of synaptic strength, finally resulting in increased and more reliable communication between the activated neurons (5,6). The potential relevance of this concept in behavioral change is particularly wellillustrated in the context of stroke rehabilitation (7). Assuming that the connection between the peripheral muscles and sensorimotor cortex has been disrupted due to the formation of a cortical or subcortical lesion, concurrent activation of sensory feedback loops, combined with activation of the primary motor cortex, may lead to the reinforcement of previously dormant cortical connections via Hebbian plasticity, thereby supporting functional recovery (8,9).…”

SOD2 Mediates Curcumin-Induced Protection against Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation/Reoxygenation Injury in HT22 Cells

“…Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the worldwide [17]. Unfortunately, however, effective medicine or therapy in treating the disease is extremely limited.…”