Possibilities for rehabilitation after stroke.

The patient's own attitude, activity and social interaction influence functional outcome and quality of life after stroke. Rehabilitation of stroke patients should start as soon as the patient is in a medically stable condition. The concept of early rehabilitation should be provided by an interdisciplinary team, preferably in stroke units. The key of successful rehabilitation is teamwork of the specialist, patient and patient's family. Stroke, within the fixed limits of the brain vascular architecture, is a privileged field of research for the brain-mind correlations and the mechanisms of brain plasticity. Future studies may investigate aspects of cognitive recovery after stroke in individual patients and will relate them to the aspects of brain plasticity where synapses are sprouting. With this in mind, research will tend to elucidate whether cortical maps are enlarging, whether homologous or non-homologous areas are activated, in which hemisphere the lesions do occur, whether they are integrated into cognitive and behavioral models of recovery and if so, should this clarify the restoration or compensation of the normal functions of the brain.