Overview of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation for Motor Recovery After Stroke

Copyright: © 2013 Takeuchi N. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Stroke is the major cause of disability worldwide. A number of neurological functions are impaired by stroke; the most common impairment is motor disability contralateral to the stroke lesion side. Despite rehabilitation, the motor function outcome after stroke is often incomplete, and dexterity deficits are a considerable handicap to stroke survivors [1]. Motor recovery after stroke is related to neural plasticity, which refers to the ability of the brain to develop new neuronal interconnections, acquire new functions, and compensate for impairment [2,3]. Therefore, various strategies based on neural plasticity are developing that aim to enhance motor recovery [4,5].