Neuronal post-stroke plasticity in the adult

Contrary to what previously believed, recent research advances have demonstrated that the adult brain has a certain capacity for plastic reorganization and self-repair after a lesion such as cerebrovascular accidents. The mechanisms subtending post-stroke recovery are probably complex and operating at different levels, from molecular to synaptic to anatomical reorganization. The integrated use of functional neuroimaging techniques, by overcoming the limitations of each specific methodology is likely to shed much light on plasticity mechanisms. In this review we discuss the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology possibly underlying reorganization of the central nervous system, as well as the experimental evidence of "in vivo" post-stroke plasticity. Better understanding of these mechanisms can provide neurorehabilitation with powerful tools in designing and implementing new therapeutic approaches to stroke patients both in the acute and the chronic stages after a brain tissue lesion has occurred and stabilized.