Neuroplasticity, Motor Relearning,

and
its Application in Rehabilitation

Frank Hyland, PT, MS

Vice President – Rehabilitation Services and Hospital Administrator
Good Shepherd Rehabilitation

Financial disclosure: the speakers have no relevant financial or non-financial

relationships to disclose.

The material in this presentation is for general clinical knowledge, and it is not
considered treatment recommendations for specific patients.
 Overview
• Define neuroplasticity

• Review basic anatomy and physiology

• Clinical application of neuroplasticity in

rehabilitation

• Describe the underlying theory of Learned

Non-use and Cortical Reorganization

• Evidence for effectiveness

Rehabilitation is Changing

• For the past 75 years, compensation for loss of

function was the primary focus of rehabilitation

• The brain and spinal cord were thought to be

unresponsive to change and incapable of
recovery

• However, research has shown that the brain and

spinal cord are indeed plastic and can develop
new neuronal interconnections so that new
functions can be acquired and restored
 Basic anatomy and
physiology

Cells in the brain

send signals to cells
in the spinal cord
which in turn
connect with the
muscles
 What is Neuroplasticity?

• The capacity for continuous alteration of the neural pathways

and synapses of the Central Nervous System in response to
injury or repetitive experience.

• The CNS may respond to this stimuli by reorganizing its

structure, function, and/or neural connections.

• New neural connections may form in order to compensate for

injury/loss of function or it may be a response to changes in
one’s environment.

• Present in both healthy and damaged CNS.

 What is Neuroplasticity?

• Synaptic connections are continually being

modified (re-organisation of circuitry)
– In response to demand – learning, repetition
– After damage to the CNS
– Disuse
 Neuroplasticity in
Healthy CNS

• Musicians – how do I get to Carnegie Hall?

“Practice, practice, practice.”

• Athletes – practice fundamentals – over and over

and over.

• Why does this work? Muscles can’t think – it’s the

hardwiring of the CNS through repetition of activity
that leads to improvement in performance.
Neuroplastic Stages of
Feeding
A) Rejecter of New Foods
Neuroplastic Stages of
Feeding
B) Ejector of New Foods
Neuroplastic Stages of
Feeding
C) Messy Eater
Neuroplastic Stages of
Feeding
D) No way am I eating that
Neuroplastic Stages of
Feeding
E) Picky Eater
Neuroplastic Stages of
Feeding
E) Happy Meal Eater
Neuroplastic Stages of
Feeding
F) Accomplished Eater
 Mechanisms of
Neuroplasticity

• Hebbian Learning - neurons active together

create strong connections leading to behavior
adaptations. Explains the adaptation of neurons in
the brain during the learning process.

• Repetition of a reverberatory activity tends to

induce lasting cellular changes that add to its
stability (Hardwiring concept).
 What determines
whether a cell fires?

Hebbian learning rule (Hebb - 1949):

Repetitive activation of a presynaptic
neuron together with simultaneous
activation of a neighbouring postsynaptic
neuron leads to an increase in synaptic
strength between them.
 Mechanisms of
Neuroplasticity
• Axonal Sprouting - Undamaged axons grow
new nerve endings to reconnect damaged
neuron links
• New Neural Pathways - Undamaged axons
sprout to other undamaged nerve cells forming
new neural pathways to accomplish a needed
function
• Cortex Changes – Use of dependent
competition among neurons can alter brain
network in both the sensory and motor cortex
Cortical maps – ‘use it or
lose it’
• The sensory and motor cortex also is not fixed but
flexible and adapts to learning and experience
(Donoghue 1996).
• Areas with more connections – fine motor control or
more acute sensation - have larger representation.
• Factors that promote change:
1. Exposure to an enriched environment after
ischaemic stroke increases cortical activity
2. Amputation of a limb results in a shrinking of the
cortical representation
3. Immobilization of an extremity – for example in a
splint results in a decrease in cortical activity
(Liepert 1995)

• Increase in size is related to increase in

skill/functional performance.
 Experience Alters
Somatosensory Maps in the
Cortex
Before Rehabilitation After Rehabilitation

Area of cortex devoted to fingers

Rehabilitation Impact on
Neuroplasticity

• Behavioral Level – recovery of sensory, motor, or

autonomic function

• Physiological – normalization of reflexes

• Structural – axonal/dendrite strengthening

• Cellular – synaptic strengthening

 Longitudinal changes in single subjects

10 days 17 days 24 days

infarct post stroke post stroke post stroke
31 days 3 months
post stroke
post stroke
B

OUTCOMES Barthel ARAT GRIP NHPT

Patient A 20/20 57/57 98.7% 78.9%
Patient B 20/20 57/57 64.2% 14.9%
 Importance of Sensory
Input
Learned Non-use in Animals
• Substantial neurological injury leads to reduction
in motor and/or perceptual function
• Animal attempts to use the involved limb
• Continued attempts to use involved limb
produces failure, pain, poor coordination, falling,
etc.
• Animal begins to function adequately with 3
limbs, reinforcing 3 limb function
 Learned Non-use in
Animals
• Non-use response tendency persists, preventing
animals from learning that after several months,
the limb is potentially usable.

• Conclusion: the animals never learned they could

eventually use the limb -
(Learned Non-use or Learned Helplessness)
 Learned Non-use in
Humans
• When a person's brain is damaged by a stroke, it
often becomes more difficult to move an
extremity.
• The person therefore tends to use the extremity
less.
• This leads to shrinkage of the regions of the brain
that control movement of that extremity.
• Movement of the extremity becomes even more
difficult.
 Process of Learned
Non-use
1. Decrease in the size of cortical
representation of the extremity

2. Punishment of use of involved extremity

(pain, frustration)

3. Reinforcement of use of intact extremity

– The three processes interact to produce a
cycle during which the person uses the
extremity less and less
– It is potentially reversible and can be
overcome by the application of appropriate
interventions
 Childhood vs. Adult
Response to CNS Damage
• Children with early CNS damage (prenatal and
early postnatal) differ from adults with a sudden
CNS lesion.
• Underlying neural framework for movement
with complex cortical pathways has not yet
developed.
• Results in atypical movement patterns, which
include ignoring or disregarding one’s body
parts.
• Unlike the adult who once had normal
movement patterns then loses them, the child
never acquired typical movement.
Deluca, Echols, and Ramey, 2007
What can be done to enhance
Neuroplasticity and functional
recovery potential?
• Today rehabilitation protocols are being based
on motor learning to induce neural plasticity
• Training should be:
- task specific
- meaningful and challenging
- repetitive and intensive
- provided in an enriched environment
- movements performed in a relatively
normal biomechanical position and
manner
 Skill Acquisition:
Implicit and Explicit Learning
• Explicit learning:
– ‘How to’ – associated with memory, cognition, etc.
– Learning may be very rapid and is tested by questioning

• Implicit learning:
– Motor skills are examples of implicit learning
– Demonstrated by ‘doing’

• Therapists often use explicit learning in training motor skills

• Evidence suggests this may not be effective

(Boyd & Winstein Journal of Physical Therapy Nov 2003)
 The potential influence of
neuroplastic interventions on
functional performance
Neuroplastic Movement & Sensory input
Unable to therapies • Stiffness / ROM
perform
• Spasticity
task
• Muscle strength

Reduce Repetition
Intense, varied repetition
support Goal
at limitorientated practice
of performance
Feedback
Feedback from from
successful performance
successful performance

Improved Neuroplasticity
Performance Motor Learning
 Summary
• Evidence that intensive practice and repetition leads to
better outcomes

• Evidence for neuroplasticity in animal models has been

demonstrated in human subjects

• Neuroplastic changes are associated with improved function

• Complex interventions may add value to improve functional

outcomes

• Proper environment and biomechanical position are critical

 Three rehabilitation
interventions to enhance
neuroplasticity
(afternoon session)

• Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT)

• Body Weight Support Treadmill Training (BWSTT)

• Exoskeleton Training
Assistive and Rehabilitative
Technology

• Rehabilitative Technology is designed to

train individuals to regain function.

• Assistive Technology is devoted to the

facilitation of function.
 Our Inspiration

Professor of Theoretical Physics – Dr. Steven Hawking – Cambridge University

“Dr. Stephen Hawking continues to be active in his research and personal lives
because he has developed effective strategies for personal care, speaking, writing,
and research activities that compensate for functional limitations imposed by ALS.”
http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/articles?370

http://www.hawking.org.uk/
Assistive Technology:
Defined
Assistive or Adaptive
Technology commonly refers to
"...products, devices or equipment,
whether acquired commercially,
modified or customized, that are
used to maintain, increase or
improve the functional
capabilities of individuals with
disabilities..."
Assistive Technology Act of 1998

http://section508.gov/docs/AT1998.html

Bridging the GAP!!!

“For people without disabilities,
technology makes things easier.

For people with disabilities, technology

makes things possible.”
 What is the Purpose of
AT?
• TO HELP PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
PARTICIPATE IN LIFE ACTIVITIES
AND TO INCREASE THEIR
INDEPENDENCE

• Simple to Complex Examples:

– Play a board game
– Make a call
– Read the paper
– Communicate wants and needs
– Mobility
 Adaptive
Computer
Access
Pediatric Augmentative
Adaptive &
Computer Alternative
Access 1 Communications
(AAC)

GSRH
Assistive
Technology
Environmental
Adaptive 4 Control
Driving Systems

Wheelchair
Seating
Mobility