title: Lost in translation: rethinking approaches to stroke recovery.
abstract: Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the preeminent cause of neurological disability. Attempts to limit brain injury after ischemic stroke with clot-dissolving drugs have met with great success but their use remains limited due to a narrow therapeutic time window and concern over serious side effects. Unfortunately, the neuroprotective strategy failed in clinical trials. A more promising approach is to promote recovery of function in people affected by stroke. Following stroke, there is a heightened critical period of plasticity that appears to be receptive to exogenous interventions (e.g., delivery of growth factors) designed to enhance neuroplasticity processes important for recovery. An emerging concept is that combinational therapies appear much more effective than single interventions in improving stroke recovery. One of the most promising interventions, with clinical feasibility, is enriched rehabilitation, a combination of environmental enrichment and task-specific therapy.
authors.affiliation: Heart & Stroke Foundation Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery and Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. Electronic address: dcorbett@uottawa.ca.
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Corbett
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jeffers
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nguemeni
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gomez-Smith
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Livingston-Thomas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: animal models; enriched rehabilitation; neuroplasticity; recovery; stroke