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(Stroke. 2003;34:1752.)
© 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.

Original Contributions

Editorial Comment—Implementing Results of Stroke Recovery Research Into Clinical Practice

UCI Medical Center, Department of Neurology, University of California Irvine, Orange, California

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Most patients show some recovery of deficits in the weeks-months following a focal infarct. Numerous studies have characterized the molecular, cellular, systems, and behavioral level^1–3 brain changes related to this recovery. In the current article, Ilvonen et al,⁴ using mismatch negativity (MMN), describe an evolution of brain physiology that paralleled recovery of language. Consistent with prior studies using functional MRI (fMRI)⁵ or positron emission tomography (PET),⁶ these authors found changes in brain function within both hemispheres as language improved. Apart from new information on brain reorganization gained from this investigation, this report has significance in at least 2 other ways: only passive patient participation was needed to probe the brain, and the methods employed can be easily implemented in thousands of medical facilities worldwide.

MMN is a type of auditory-evoked potential that reflects cerebral processing of changes in the acoustic environment. An auditory stimulus is presented while scalp electrodes record cortical potentials. A change in the auditory stimulus pattern is then introduced, which results in a negative deflection over characteristic brain areas such as frontal or temporal lobes. This deflection represents an objective measure of auditory and language processing that can be elicited in the absence of attention.^7,8 MMN has provided insights into brain function in a number of brain states,⁹ including conditions in which studying brain physiology can be otherwise difficult, such as schizophrenia¹⁰ and sleep.¹¹

Most methods used to map brain function demand cooperation from the patient being examined. Thus fMRI, PET, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study . . . [Full Text of this Article]