Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrneurol.2010.200?error=cookies_not_supported&code=43763e3e-43ad-4204-89a4-059d76927b2a
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 22:31:22+00:00

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Michael Dimyan is completing a clinical research fellowship at the Human Cortical Physiology and Stroke Neurorehabilitation Section, NINDS, Bethesda, MD, USA. His medical and scientific interests in regeneration and neuroplasticity began when working under Ronald Meyer and then Norman Weinberger at the University of California, Irvine. During his medical training at the University of California, San Francisco, he studied neurophysiology and motor control with Mark Hallett at the NIH. After receiving his neurology training at the Harvard Partners program, he began his current fellowship with Leonardo Cohen.
Leonardo Cohen received his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and did his neurology residency at Georgetown University, Washington, USA. He received postdoctoral training in clinical neurophysiology at the Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, USA. He also received postdoctoral training in motor control and movement disorders at the Human Motor Control Section, NINDS. In 1998, he became Chief of the Human Cortical Physiology Section at NINDS. In 1999, he received the prestigious Humboldt and Mercator award and he is an elected member of the American Neurological Association. His laboratory is interested in the mechanisms underlying plastic changes in the human CNS and, based on the understanding of these mechanisms, the development of novel therapeutic approaches for recovery of function following diseases such as stroke.
Approximately one-third of patients with stroke exhibit persistent disability after the initial cerebrovascular episode, with motor impairments accounting for most poststroke disability. Exercise and training have long been used to restore motor function after stroke. Better training strategies and therapies to enhance the effects of these rehabilitative protocols are currently being developed for poststroke disability. The advancement of our understanding of the neuroplastic changes associated with poststroke motor impairment and the innate mechanisms of repair is crucial to this endeavor. Pharmaceutical, biological and electrophysiological treatments that augment neuroplasticity are being explored to further extend the boundaries of poststroke rehabilitation. Potential motor rehabilitation therapies, such as stem cell therapy, exogenous tissue engineering and brain–computer interface technologies, could be integral in helping patients with stroke regain motor control. As the methods for providing motor rehabilitation change, the primary goals of poststroke rehabilitation will be driven by the activity and quality of life needs of individual patients. This Review aims to provide a focused overview of neuroplasticity associated with poststroke motor impairment, and the latest experimental interventions being developed to manipulate neuroplasticity to enhance motor rehabilitation.
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This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH. The original illustrations used for Figure 1 were by G. Qushair of SciLingua.
M. A. Dimyan and L. G. Cohen researched the data and wrote the article, and provided substantial contributions to discussions of the content, reviewing and editing of the manuscript.

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