Brain Stimulation Improves Stroke Recovery

Electrical stimulation of the brain helps ischemic stroke survivors regain partial use of a weakened hand, a new study shows.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU, Portland, OR, USA), examined the safety of cortical stimulation therapy. The results showed that stroke patients who received stimulation with rehabilitation improved significantly better in hand mobility and strength tests than people undergoing rehabilitation alone. Eight individuals aged 33-74 who had suffered motor deficits resulting from a stroke that occurred at least four months before were randomly placed into one of two groups: an active treatment group that received cortical stimulation to the motor cortex with three weeks of rehabilitation, or a control group that received rehabilitation alone.

The study found that patients in the active treatment group improved to a significantly greater degree than control patients, and they continued to improve throughout the three-week treatment period and into a fourth week, and even maintained their improvements through the 16th week of the study. In comparison, control patients experienced lesser improvements within the study's first two weeks, and the improvements decreased over time. The researchers believe cortical stimulation induces neurons to rewire themselves in response to the damage caused by stroke--a phenomenon known as plasticity--and rehabilitation continues to encourage this rewiring activity.

"The idea is you induce plasticity in the brain and once it's there, you can remove the hardware,” said Helmi Lutsep, M.D., associate professor of neurology and associate director of the Oregon Stroke Center, OHSU School of Medicine.

In cortical stimulation, an external pulse generator sends a low current through a wire to an electrode placed surgically atop the dura, the fibrous membrane covering the brain.



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