Stroke

Question 1

What happened to Dr. Michael Bernstein?

Answer 1

small stroke while playing tennis and then more small ones caused increased damage
after treatment (traditional and experimental) he made a big recovery

Question 2

What is conventional stroke therapy?

Answer 2

One week in intensive care
One week of in-patient therapy.
Two weeks of therapy in a rehabilitation facility and then home.
Three weeks of in-home therapy.

Question 3

What are the signs of a stroke?

Answer 3

Weakness/numbness in face, arm or leg, most often
on one side of the body
sudden confusion or trouble speaking
sudden trouble walking, balance
not able to see
sudden severe headache

Question 4

When is the window of treatment for a stroke?

Answer 4

first 3 hours

Question 5

What are the 2 most common causes (types) of stroke?

Answer 5

Ischemic (blood vessel block)
Hemorrhage (blood vessel burst)

Question 6

What damages the brain in the stroke?

Answer 6

Unable to get oxygen and tissues die
pressure of blood against brain tissue

Question 7

If the left side of the body is experiencing stroke symptoms (weakness, etc) the damage is on the ____ side of the brain

Answer 7

right

Question 8

Stroke numbers are going up because…?

Answer 8

bad lifestyle habits

Question 9

What are some of the causes of stroke (lifestyle)

Answer 9

diabetes, smoking, diet, genetics, cholesterol levels, irregular heartbeat

Question 10

What are silent strokes?

Answer 10

small strokes where the person doesn’t really notice that they had one

Question 11

What are treatments for strokes?

Answer 11

Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) is the immediate treatment for stroke. The goal here is to break up the blockage as soon as possible.
“clot buster” medication

Question 12

What are modern approaches to rehabilitation for stroke?

Answer 12

Repetitive practice of movements related to specific skills
*New ways of moving to compensate for lost functions
* Passive movements, if deficit is severe
* Transcutaneous nerve stimulation to promote brain
reorganization

Question 13

Who is Dr. Taub and what did he do for the field?

Answer 13

disproved Sherrington’s reflex theory
monkey experiments
therapy program for people with strokes

Question 14

What was Sherrington’s theory about movement?

Answer 14

all movements were based on reflexes.
movement has an underlying neural structure utilizing sensory and motor nerves that are essentially fixed.

Question 15

What were Taub’s monkey experiments?

Answer 15

he severed their sensory nerves in their arms so they were unable to be used and then forced the monkeys to use them.
over time the monkeys recovered and were able to have function of their affected arms

Question 16

What is shaping?

Answer 16

rewarding of behavior starting with the initial movement and not just waiting for the entire task to be completed

Question 17

What were the principles of Taub’s theory?

Answer 17

Isolation of affected part of the body
Repetitive practice of individual tasks
Massed practice; many repetitions in a short time

Question 18

How did Taub’s therapy work?

Answer 18

the “good” hand would be in a cast or mitt so that it couldn’t be used and the affected one would do the movement
tasks increased in difficulty over time
repetition

Question 19

What is the term for Taub’s therapy?

Answer 19

Constraint Induced Therapy

Question 20

What other areas/disabilities of the brain can be changed using some of these principles?

Answer 20

Broca’s area for speech
Cerebral palsy in children

Question 21

What are the 3 types of deep brain stimulation and how do they work?

Answer 21

Repetitive: Electrode repeatedly stimulates neurons in a
region.
* Paired: Different electrodes repeatedly stimulate the
presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons.
* Closed loop: An electrode records whenever the presynaptic
neuron is naturally active. When that occurs, a second
electrode stimulates the postsynaptic neurons.

Question 22

What is functional connectivity and how does it work?

Answer 22

Normally the right and left sides of the brain controlling
your arm, for example, are linked (functional
connectivity). If one arm is not used, the two sides of
the brain become uncoupled. Thankfully reusing the
arm later can reconnect the sides of the brain.