Imaging monkeys’ brains after strokelike injury is giving scientists clues to how neurons reorganize themselves so the animals can move again.
In a new study, rhesus monkeys with damage to the brain region that controls hand motion were retrained to grip a potato piece through a small opening. PET scans and other analyses of the monkeys’ brains before and after injury show that early in recovery, there is more activity in a region called the ventral premotor cortex, which sits relatively far from the injury site. Later in recovery, connections grew stronger between the injury site and parts of the brain closer to it.
The results, published January 7 in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that brain remapping that occurs during rehabiliation after strokes and similar injuries may follow multiple steps, which depend on the time since the damage was done. Further studies could have implications for treating people who have suffered strokes, the scientists say.
