HealthcareRewiring the Brain: How Neuroplasticity Transforms Stroke Rehabilitation

By Guillem Singla Buxarrais, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer — Neurofenix

Strokes are an incredibly common medical emergency, with reports finding that about 795,000 people suffer a stroke each year. Unfortunately, the effects of a stroke can be life-changing or even life-ending.

Studies have shown that only around 10% of stroke patients recover fully, while 25% recover with only minor impairments. Additionally, 40% of stroke patients have “moderate-to-severe impairments that require special care,” 10% require long-term care, and 15% die shortly after their stroke.

A stroke is the interruption of blood flow to a specific portion of the brain, which deprives those brain cells of oxygen and essential nutrients. The effects of a stroke can vary widely depending on several factors, including how long the stroke lasts and where in the brain it occurs. Some may have minimal effects, while others may find themselves facing potentially life-altering disabilities.

Thankfully, the human brain has a powerful capability known as neuroplasticity that allows it to recover from traumatic damage such as that which occurs during a stroke. Neuroplasticity is essentially the brain’s ability to reorganize its structure, function, and neural connections in response to stimuli like damage. Many people describe this process as the brain “rewiring” itself because the new connections the brain forms are essential for relearning key functions after an incident like a stroke.

Understanding neuroplasticity

Stroke recovery is all about trying to regain abilities lost because of damage to the brain, from speech to movement and more. When one learns these abilities in childhood, they create a pathway in the brain, and this pathway is disrupted by the damage caused by a stroke. The process of neuroplasticity allows the brain to reform pathways or even form new pathways, allowing a patient to regain (at least partially) the abilities they lost when their existing pathways were destroyed.

Most people are likely familiar with functional reorganization, a type of neuroplasticity that occurs when undamaged parts of the brain take over the functions of the damaged areas. For example, if movement is impaired on one side, other areas of the brain may step in to assist. In this case, full recovery is unlikely because parts of the brain are being used for functions beyond their intended purpose. Still, this can be key in enabling everything from motor recovery to speech recovery and more.

A less common form of neuroplasticity in stroke recovery is known as compensatory pathways, in which the brain creates entirely new pathways to complete essential functions. For example, if a stroke patient loses the ability to write or eat with their dominant hand, their brain may create a pathway that allows them to use their other hand for these tasks. By creating new pathways that the brain didn’t previously have and giving them different ways to complete tasks, the brain allows the person to recover.

How neuroplasticity allows stroke recovery

The beauty of the brain is that each person builds neural pathways differently. That being said, neuroplasticity is only an ability of the brain — it must be stimulated through mental activity and exercise to work. Rehabilitation exercises such as occupational, physical, and speech therapy are required to stimulate the brain and encourage it to form these pathways. High-dose, high-intensity repetition is key to successful rehabilitation post-stroke, as repetitive tasks are crucial in reinforcing existing pathways in the brain and building new ones.

However, every patient’s recovery after a stroke will be different, as will the damage caused to the brain by each incident. One patient’s stroke may affect portions of their brain that have minimal importance, while another patient’s stroke may predominantly impact portions of the brain that drive vital bodily functions. Because of this, each patient’s recovery process will look different, and the extent of recovery will also vary.

The most important thing for a stroke patient to remember during their recovery is patience. With neuroplasticity, you are literally forming new connections within your brain. Remember how long it took you to learn how to do things when you were a child? Re-learning these tasks will also take time, repetition, and practice, although the amount of time it takes will vary from person to person. In some cases, a full recovery to pre-stroke conditions is not possible.

Still, the brain’s powerful ability of neuroplasticity opens the door for stroke patients to recover after significant damage to their neural pathways. Although only a small percentage of stroke patients have a full recovery, neuroplasticity is key to allowing more patients to recover with minimal impairment. By undergoing rehabilitation exercises that stimulate neuroplasticity, stroke patients can hopefully look forward to going on to live a happy life.

— Guillem Singla Buxarrais is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Neurofenix, where he leads efforts to revolutionize neurorehabilitation through innovative digital health solutions. With a strong background in healthcare innovation and biomedical engineering, Guillem’s passion for improving the lives of neurological patients is deeply personal, shaped by his own experiences with neurological conditions. He co-founded Neurofenix in 2016 to address gaps in neurorehabilitation, developing solutions like the NeuroBall, a groundbreaking virtual therapy device for upper limb stroke recovery. His leadership has driven the company’s growth and earned him recognition, including selection in the prestigious MedTech Innovator Accelerator Program in 2021.