Modulation of recovery and compensation after stroke

Abstract

Stress has been shown to exacerbate cell death and cognitive deficits after ischemic injury in rodents, however, little is known of the effects of stress on motor recovery. The objective of this present thesis is to examine the effects of chronic stress on skilled motor recovery after devascularization lesion in rats. It was found that pre-lesion stress induced the most behavioural impairments, while post-lesion stress exacerbated infarct volume. The effects of chronic multiple stress on skilled motor recovery after lesion was also examined. Chronic multiple stress did not modulate skilled motor recovery nor did it have any influence on infarct volume. Additionally, stress had effect on edema after devascularization lesion. The present thesis suggests that the time of exposure to chronic stress in respect to the ischemic lesion, in addition to the type of stress, will differentially affect recovery and compensation in rats.