Physical exercise as a diagnostic, rehabilitation and preventive tool: Influence on neuroplasticity and motor recovery after stroke

Well yes, neuroplasticity has been proven to work for a long time. Why are we allowing research like this to continue?  Solve the real problem with neuroplasticity. We don't know exactly why a neuron would give up its' current duties and help out a neighboring neuron. Without that knowledge it is not truly repeatable and no neuroplasticity research will be able to be duplicated. Will somebody in stroke rub at least two functioning neurons together and maybe generate a spark of intelligence? Like maybe create a strategy instead of shooting in the dark.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_url?url=http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/np/aip/608581.pdf&hl=en&sa=X&scisig=AAGBfm29K7NtYI7ebEpoBb_kTYOB6NvwWA&nossl=1&oi=scholaralrt

Abstract

Stroke remains a leading cause of adult motor disabilities in the world and accounts for the greatest number of hospitalizations for neurological disease. Stroke treatments/therapies need to promote neuroplasticity to improve motor function. Physical exercise is considered as a major candidate for ultimately promoting neural plasticity and could be used for different purposes in human and animal experiments.

First, acute exercise could be used as a diagnostic tool to understand new neural mechanisms underlying stroke physiopathology.

Indeed, better knowledge of stroke mechanisms that affects movements is crucial for enhancing treatment/rehabilitation effectiveness.

Secondly, it is well established that physical exercise training is advised as an effective rehabilitation tool. Indeed, it reduces inflammatory processes and apoptotic marker

expression, promotes brain angiogenesis, expression of some growth factors and improves the activation of affected muscles during exercise.

Nevertheless, exercise training might also aggravate sensorimotor deficits and brain injury depending on the chosen exercise parameters.

For the last few years, physical training has been combined with pharmacological treatments to accentuate

and/or accelerate beneficial neural and motor effects.

Finally, physical exercise might also be considered as a major non-pharmacological preventive strategy that provides neuroprotective effects reducing adverse effects of brain ischemia. Therefore,

pre-stroke regular physical activity may also decrease the motor outcome severity of stroke.