Corticostriatal Plasticity after Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusions
by Naomi Cohen
Faculty Mentor: Theresa Jones, Graduate Student Advisor: Krystal Schaar Valenzuela
Strokes usually damage one cerebral hemisphere, resulting in lateralized functional impairments. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) is the most common cause of ischemic stroke in humans, often resulting in substantial cortical and striatal lesions. Corticostriatal axonal projections are essential for relaying cortical information to the basal ganglia, and are often damaged in MCAo. These axons are known to exhibit a plastic response after ischemia, showing an increase in interhemispheric projections originating from the contralesional hemisphere. However, stroke recovery has a complicated timeline and can be influenced by factors such as physical rehabilitation or compensation by the non-paretic limb. Little is known about the effect of these variables on corticostriatal projections, both ipsilesional and contralesional, after infarct. The current study will investigate the effect of rehabilitative training on corticostriatal axon regeneration after middle cerebral artery occlusion. More specifically, this study will compare the outcomes of three types of rehabilitative training: 1) standard rehabilitative training, 2) nonparetic limb training, and 3) delayed rehabilitative training.