(NPR) – People who have had a stroke appear to regain more hand and arm function if intensive rehabilitation starts two to three months after the injury to their brain.
A study of 72 stroke patients suggests this is a “critical period,” when the brain has the greatest capacity to rewire, a team reports in this week’s journal PNAS.
The finding challenges the current practice of beginning rehabilitation as soon as possible after a stroke and suggests intensive rehabilitation should go on longer than most insurance coverage allows, says Elissa Newport, a co-author of the study and director of the Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery at Georgetown University Medical Center. CONTINUE