The evolution of poststroke recovery

The University of Cincinnati's Joseph Broderick, MD, was featured in a Medscape article commenting on new treatments and advancements in the field of poststroke recovery research. 

New research is challenging the idea that regaining limb mobility more than 6 months after a stroke was nearly impossible, including studies of noninvasive brain stimulation that pairs  with physical rehabilitation to modulate disrupted neural networks.

Broderick noted determining the correct dose of stimulation will be key, as too much stimulation “can cause side effects that you don’t want.”

Other researchers are focused on using robotic therapy or interactive virtual reality (VR) gaming to help strengthen limbs and encourage patients to stick to their exercise regimen. Broderick noted that interventions like VR have a limitation of not being able to  address language or vision deficits caused by stroke.

“There are limits to what we can recover from,” said Broderick, professor in UC’s Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine in the College of Medicine, director of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute and a UC Health physician. 

Moving forward, Broderick said gene therapy could potentially help "spark motor recovery" in patients.

Read the Medscape article.

Featured photo at top of Dr. Broderick. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/University of Cincinnati