Effects of Voluntary Physical Rehabilitation on Neurogenesis In SVZ And Functional Recovery After Ischemic Stroke

Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability and 87% of all strokes are due to ischemic strokes. In this current study, we examined whether voluntary physical rehabilitation can influence neurogenesis (measured by Doublecortin) in the subventricular zone and show improved motor functional recovery in 10-12 month female rats after ischemia. We saw a significant increase in the neurogenesis (measured by doublecortin) of all three regions (anterior, middle and posterior) of SVZ in the rehab animals compared to control group when using a two-way variance ANOVA test, although we were unable to see significant differences in paired t-tests of similar regions for control and rehab animals. The control animals showed a significant increase in contralateral functional recovery of 56% with rehab animals displaying a recovery of 23%. These findings suggest that the physical rehabilitation showed increased neurogenesis in the SVZ but did not translate to greater contralateral functional recovery