Brainstem discovered as important relay site after stroke

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After a stroke, sufferers are often faced with the problem of severe movement impairment. Researchers at the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich have now discovered that the brainstem could play a major role in the recovery of motor functions. The projection of neurons from this ancient part of the brain into the spinal cord leads to the neural impulses needed for motion being rerouted.Around 16,000 people in Switzerland suffer a stroke every year. Often the result of a sudden occlusion of a vessel supplying the brain, it is the most frequent live-threatening neurological disorder. In most cases, it has far-reaching consequences for survivors. Often the stroke sufferers have to cope with handicaps and rehabilitation is a long process. The brain does, however, have a “considerable capacity for regeneration” explains Lukas Bachmann from the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich. As member of Professor Martin Schwab’s research team, he found that the brainstem, the oldest region in the brain, could play an important role in recovery. The results have now been published in The Journal of Neuroscience.The healthy half of the brain assumes controlA stroke in the cerebral cortex frequently leads to motor constraints of one half of the body, to what is known as hemiparesis. This is due to the loss of neuron pathways which transmit signals from the cortex to the spinal cord. …


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