Big Stuff & Neuroplasticity

Big Stuff & Neuroplasticity

The ability of one part of the brain to take over the function of a damaged part of the brain.

Where a stroke is caused by a blocked blood supply to part of the brain, the parts of the body which it controls are adversely affected.

Let’s look at arm and legs.

Fully trained therapists design movements of them to send electrical signals to the brain in the hope that another part of the brain will take over their movements. If improvement happens this is N.P.L. at work.

This leads some writers on stroke to try and fit the number of movements to the amount of recovery. This has all the problems of setting base levels of a variety of defects and the complexity of musculature of the affected limbs. Anyway the work seems to be the more the better. They have not heard of fatigue.

I rely on my physio’s choice of muscle and number of movement to keep N.P.L. interested.

Angus.

This is being written about my home stay. When I was awake my mind was racing with all sorts of problems, minor or major. If I woke at 4am I would stay awake til my normal time of 6am when I would decide whether to continue with my thinking or turn on the radio for the news.

I cannot believe that the stroke increased my capacity for intellectual and critical thinking. It must be time on my hands. So the standard neuro tests to see if we have our marbles does not seem relevant. Shut up Ted!

Angus.