The importance of neuronal stimulation in central nervous system plasticity and neurorehabilitation strategies.

Basic neuroscience has demonstrated new mechanisms of neuroplasticity in the healthy and the lesioned brain. Post injury, behavioral experience and neuronal stimulation-based therapy seem to play an adaptive role in the injured brain, modifying the functional organization of remaining cortical tissue and leading to clinical improvements. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying human neuroplasticity might benefit neurorehabilitation strategies designed to promote recovery of function. We review some of the main results from animal experimental and human clinical studies focusing on mechanisms of reorganization of the motor cortex in response to injury and highlight different available approaches used to modulate and to evaluate motor cortical plasticity. Finally, we discuss how knowledge on neuroplasticity might be applied to neurorehabilitation strategies in neurologically impaired patients.