Rehabilitation After Stroke: Current State of the Science

Stroke rehabilitation is evolving into a clinical field based on the neuroscience of recovery and restoration. There has been substantial growth in the number and quality of clinical trials performed. Much effort now is directed toward motor restoration and is being led by trials of constraint-induced movement therapy. Although the results do not necessarily support that constraint-induced movement therapy is superior to other training methods, this treatment has become an important vehicle for developing clinical trial methods and studying the physiology underlying activity-based rehabilitation strategies. Other promising interventions include robotic therapy delivery, magnetic and electrical cortical stimulation, visualization, and constraint-driven aphasia therapies. Amphetamine has not been demonstrated to be effective, and studies of other pharmacologic agents are still preliminary. Future studies will incorporate refinements in clinical trial methods and improved activity- and technology-based interventions.