Neural Plasticity After Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Experience-Dependent Plasticity of the Cerebral Cortex

Current understanding of the mechanisms underlyingneural plasticity changes after stroke stems from exper-imental models as well as clinical studies and provides the foundation for evidence-based neurorehabilitation. In this review, we first describe the main structural and functional constituents of neural plasticity that are believed to contribute to recovery of function after stroke. Next, we discuss selected behavioral manipulations and adjuvant therapies that can stimulate neural plasticity and improve recovery of function, particularly when applied in combination with task-specific physiotherapy and in a stimulating environment