Integrated Methods of Neuromodulation for Guiding Recovery Following Stroke

Stroke is the major cause of disability; nonetheless, cerebral plasticity mechanisms carry out different strategies to compensate the brain damage; therefore, the understanding of these processes are crucial for optimizing clinical and functional recovery. In the last decade, there has been remarkable progress in unraveling the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to altered motor function, speech disorder and visuo-spatial impairment especially by applying neuromodulation techniques such as non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS). Accordingly, several approaches have been performed in order to directly verify the efficacy of NIBS in improving these altered functions. Here, we summarize the main neurophysiological findings in the field of post-stroke recovery and especially the major results obtained from application of NIBS in the acute and chronic phase of stroke patients.