Connectivity-based approaches in stroke and recovery of function.
After focal damage, cerebral networks reorganise their structural and functional anatomy to compensate for both the lesion itself and remote effects. Novel developments in the analysis of functional neuroimaging data enable us to assess in vivo the specific contributions of individual brain areas to recovery of function and the effect of treatment on cortical reorganisation. Connectivity analyses can be used to investigate the effect of stroke on cerebral networks, and help us to understand why some patients make a better recovery than others. This systems-level view also provides insights into how neuromodulatory interventions might target pathological network configurations associated with incomplete recovery. In the future, such analyses of connectivity could help to optimise treatment regimens based on the individual network pathology underlying a particular neurological deficit, thereby opening the way for stratification of patients based on the possible response to an intervention.
Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, Köln, Germany; Neuromodulation and Neurorehabilitation, Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research, Köln, Germany; Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany. Electronic address: christian.grefkes@uk-koeln.de.
Christian
C
Grefkes
Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, Köln, Germany; Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
Gereon R
GR
Fink
D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063132:Connectome / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*