| What to expect when someone is recovering | | | | limb, that's an example of recovery. Spontaneous |
| from a stroke | | | | recovery occurs during the first days to weeks |
| After a stroke, someone you're caring for may | | | | after a stroke, as brain circulation improves and |
| be able to regain some -- maybe even most -- of | | | | swelling decreases. |
| his former abilities, or learn to adapt to | | | | Then neuroplasticity -- the brain's ability to modify |
| compensate for those he's lost. And you and the | | | | its own functional organization -- takes over. The |
| rest of his family and friends are an essential part | | | | brain can't regenerate neurons that have been |
| of his recovery and rehabilitation. | | | | lost, but it can adapt to injury by forming new |
| Stroke recovery: A long-term process | | | | connections between existing neurons. And the |
| In the stroke world, the term recovery refers to | | | | latest research suggests that the brain can |
| the actual return of neurological function. When a | | | | actually grow new neurons, although the |
| stroke survivor regains the use of a weakened | | | | implications of this aren't yet clear. |