Whereas large injuries to the brain lead to considerable irreversible functional impairments, smaller strokes or traumatic lesions are often associated with good recovery. This recovery occurs spontaneously, and there is ample evidence from preclinical studies to suggest that adjacent undamaged areas (also known as peri-infarct regions) of the cortex 'take over' control of the disrupted functio...

BACKGROUND Studies demonstrate that most arm motor recovery occurs within three months after stroke, when measured with standard clinical scales. Improvements on these measures, however, reflect a combination of recovery in motor control, increases in strength, and acquisition of compensatory strategies. OBJECTIVE To isolate and characterize the time course of recovery of arm motor control ov...

The objective of this review was to compare and to discuss the results of studies that investigated the ability of drugs to improve motor recovery after stroke by influencing dopamine, norepinephrine, or serotonin concentrations in the brain. A systematic literature search up to January 2009 was conducted in MEDLINE, Pubmed, EMBASE and in the database of the Cochrane Stroke Group Trial Register...

What determines motor recovery in stroke is still unknown and finding markers that could predict and improve stroke recovery is a challenge. In this study, we aimed at understanding the neural mechanisms of motor function recovery after stroke using neurophysiological markers by means of cortical excitability (transcranial magnetic stimulation-TMS) and brain oscillations (electroencephalography...

The mechanism of motor recovery after stroke may involve reorganization of the surviving networks. However, details of adaptive changes in structural connectivity are not well understood. Here, we show long-term changes in white matter microstructure that relate to motor recovery in stroke patients. We studied ten subcortical ischemic stroke patients who showed motor hemiparesis at the initial ...

This study aimed to investigate the effects of lesion side and degree of motor recovery on gray matter volume (GMV) difference relative to healthy controls in right-handed subcortical stroke. Structural MRI data were collected in 97 patients with chronic subcortical ischemic stroke and 79 healthy controls. Voxel-wise GMV analysis was used to investigate the effects of lesion side and degree of ...

Following a stroke, the resulting lesion creates contralateral motor impairment and an interhemispheric imbalance involving hyperexcitability of the contralesional hemisphere. Neuronal reorganization may occur on both the ipsilesional and contralesional hemispheres during recovery to regain motor functionality and therefore bilateral activation for the hemiparetic side is often observed. Althou...

Background: Prediction of functional outcome immediately after stroke onset is difficult but become easier once it is clear that the patient is likely to survive. Several prognostic factors have been identified for outcome after stroke. Infarction size and site may have a role in motor and functional recovery after stroke. Objective: This study was carried out to evaluate the role of early CT i...

The objective of this review was to compare and to discuss the results of studies that investigated the ability of drugs to improve motor recovery after stroke by influencing dopamine, norepinephrine, or serotonin concentrations in the brain. A systematic literature search up to January 2009 was conducted in MEDLINE, Pubmed, EMBASE and in the database of the Cochrane Stroke Group Trial Register...