December 1, 2016 – Immediate Help

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Anchor lead:  Could immediate use of training help brains heal after a stroke? Elizabeth Tracey reports

People who had had a stroke several months ago who were trained using a video game like intervention were able to learn, but their brain injury itself did not improve, research by Pablo Celnik, a stroke recovery expert at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues has shown. Would using such an intervention earlier following a stroke help? Celnik comments.

Celnik: We need to understand whether motor learning processes interact with recovery mechanisms that happen earlier after the stroke, to augment the recovery and this is the next frontier in neurorehabilitation. We are actually starting to test whether training and learning interact with the neuroplasticity that occurs after the stroke to have it be a benefit in terms of the recover.  :26

Celnik hopes to harness the healing power of the brain to further recovery after a stroke, but notes that the good news is even those with severe strokes were able to learn new skills months after the event. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.