Recovery from CNS Injury Flashcards
What are the two main types of recovery?
Describe each.
Compensation- accomplish the same activity level as before stroke with different kinematics, muscles or sequencing including using other limbs, techniques, etc. (ICF: activity and participation level)
Restitution- Use the same muscles, sequences, and coordinated movement patterns (kinematics, kinetics, and EMGs) as before stroke (ICF: body function level which affects activity and participation)
What are the 3 mechanisms for Restitution?
- Salvation of ischemic penumbra in the first days or weeks after a stroke
- Alleviation of diaschisis
- Promotion of neuroplasticity
What is the area which surrounds ischemic areas and the supporting cells and neurons receive just enough oxygen to stay alive for a limited time?
Ischemic Penumbra (area where medications and medical procedures are most likely to be effective)
What is diaschisis? What are the mechanisms of diaschisis?
When functional changes in brain structures remote from, but connected to, the site of focal damage
Mechanisms:
- Tissue hypometabolism
- Neurovascular uncoupling (diminished cerebral blood flow response to brain activation)
- Widespread aberrant neurtransmission
Diaschisis “at rest”
a local lesion induces a remote reduction of metabolism
Functional diaschisis
normal brain activation during a selected task may be altered, either increased or decreased after a lesion
Connectional diaschisis
distant strengths and directions of connections in a selected network may be increased or decreased
Connectomal diaschisis
a lesion of the connectome induces widespread changes in brain network organization including decrease or increase in connectivity
True or False: If you determine where the focal lesion is at in the brain you can determine which distant changes will take place.
False, it is different with every patient so you need to individualize management
How long does reversal of diaschisis take usually? What other factors help reverse diaschisis?
several weeks
activation of cell repair and absorption of debris
What is the mechanism of short term neuroplasticity?
Chemical
- transfer chemical signals between brain cells to trigger reactions to support learning
- occurs rapidly to support short-term memory or improvement in performance
What is neuroplasticity?
the lifelong capability of the brain to change its neurological architecture, organization, and physiology in response to environmental stimuli and experience
What happens to connections in the brain that aren’t used often?
they become weak (weakened synapse)
“nerve that fire out of synch fail to link”
What is neurogenesis?
continuous generation of new neurons in certain brain regions
What happens in the brain as we learn new skills and experiences and begin to practice them?
we create new neural connections and strengthen them with repetition
What are the two aspects of Synaptogenesis?
Axonal Sprouting-increase in number of synapses per neuron of primary motor cortex
Dendritic Arborization- a multi-step biological process by which neurons form new dendritic trees and branches to create new synapses, the density and grouping patterns of these new synapses higlhy correlate with the function of the neuron