Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Motor Recovery After Stroke in Adults

Background— The precise mechanisms of and biological basis for motor recovery after stroke in adults are still largely unknown. Reorganization of the motor system after stroke as assessed by functional neuroimaging is an intriguing but challenging new field of research. Provocative but equivocal findings have been reported to date. Summary of Review— We present an overview of functional neuroimaging studies (positron emission tomography or functional MRI) of motor tasks in patients recovered or still recovering from motor deficit after stroke. After a brief account of the connectivity of motor systems and the imaging findings in normal subjects, the literature concerning stroke patients is reviewed and discussed, and a general model is proposed. Conclusions— Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have demonstrated that the damaged adult brain is able to reorganize to compensate for motor deficits. Rather than a complete substitution of function, the main mechanism underlying recovery of motor abili...