Enhanced plasticity following stroke

Enhanced plasticity following stroke

Enhanced plasticity following stroke

Globally, one in four people over the age of 25 will have a stroke in their lifetime. Those who survive stroke often require extensive therapy to support recovery. While stroke survival rates are improving, we need better solutions for recovery.

Animal studies have taught us that after a stroke, the brain is dramatically more responsive to rehabilitation. This is thanks to an intense window of neuroplasticity, where the brain re-wires its surviving structures to enable recovery. This poses the question, could this be the case in human brains?

A team of researchers from Australia, the United Kingdom and Spain present the very first evidence of enhanced neuroplasticity following stroke.

For more information on this ground breaking discovery, head to https://australian.physio/research/pr…

This animation is proudly funded by the Physiotherapy Research Foundation (PRF), supporting research translation.


Content

0.25 -> There are currently more than 500,000 stroke survivors in Australia and that’s tipped
5.74 -> to reach one million in the next few years.
9.23 -> While stroke survival rates are improving, we need better solutions for recovery to help
14.71 -> people once they leave the hospital.
17.91 -> Animal studies have taught us that, after stroke, the brain is dramatically more responsive
23.359 -> to rehabilitation.
24.4 -> This is thanks to an intense window of neural plasticity: where the brain re-wires its surviving
31.88 -> structures.
34.219 -> But the question is, could this also be the case in human brains?
38.94 -> And what would this mean for improving the rehabilitation of human stroke survivors?
43.899 -> A team of researchers from Australia, the UK and Spain, have made a ground-breaking
50.059 -> discovery.
51.1 -> They used high-frequency electromagnetic stimuli to excite the brain and assess the level of
56.969 -> neuroplasticity of stroke patients over the months after their stroke.
63.1 -> What they demonstrated is the very first evidence of a time-limited post stroke window of enhanced
69.229 -> neuroplasticity.
70.229 -> It emerges between two-to-six weeks after stroke where the brain has greater capacity
74.09 -> for neuroplasticity.
76.04 -> This is a game-changer.
81.009 -> This new evidence emphasizes that therapy early after stroke is critical to take advantage
88.22 -> of this heightened capacity for neuroplasticity.
91 -> And, delaying the start of therapy, or delivering too little, is likely to lead to poor recovery
97.479 -> outcomes.
98.479 -> So for the best chance of an effective recovery after stroke, time is of the essence.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj3HmDl9mI4