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Intensity matters! In the fourth and final of a multi-part series on stroke, Dr. Michael Powers explores best current evidence in stroke interventions including task-oriented training, clinical practice guidelines to improve locomotor function, and clinical practice guidelines on the use of ankle foot orthoses and functional electrical stimulation. He highlights the importance of keeping intensity, salience, and repetitions high during stroke rehabilitation to drive neuroplasticity. He discusses the importance of emphasizing interventions at the participation and activity level, and how treatments which overly emphasize body function and structure are not consistent with the best current evidence nor the recommended approach to examination which was discussed last episode. He hopes that by the end of this episode you will start thinking of your patients as athletes who benefit from high intensity practice!

Key Takeaways

• Neuroplasticity mechanisms
• Adaptive vs maladaptive neuroplasticity
• Lifestyle facts impacting neuroplasticity
• Experience-dependent neuroplasticity
• Factors impacting neuroplasticity
• The importance of exercise and intensity
• Aerobic exercise and brain-derived neurotrophic factor
• Non-locomotor outcomes improved with high intensity gait training

References

• The Neuroplastic Brain: Current Breakthroughs and Emerging Frontiers
• The Combined Influences of Exercise, Diet and Sleep on Neuroplasticity
• Neuroplasticity After Stroke: Adaptive and Maladaptive Mechanisms in Evidence-Based Rehabilitation
• Promoting Neuroplasticity for Motor Rehabilitation After Stroke: Considering the Effects of Aerobic Exercise and Genetic Variation on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
• Principles of Experience-Dependent Neural Plasticity: Implications for Rehabilitation After Brain Damage
• Moving Forward
• Effect of Exercise on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Stroke Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
• Clinical Practice Guideline to Improve Locomotor Function Following Chronic Stroke, Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury, and Brain Injury
• Clinician Resources for Locomotor CPG
• Increasing the Amount and Intensity of Stepping Training During Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Improves Locomotor and Non-Locomotor Outcomes

All music courtesy of Free Music Archive and used via attribution 4.0 international license.

• Intro and Outro: Stylin' by JMHBM
• Transitional: Our Reality by Ketsa

Connect

• email: neuropowerhour@drmichaelpowers.com
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