I know this is outside the normal brain expectation but I rhetorically ask anyway. And this really does not help myself or anyone else, but someone has to ask the head-scratching questions if we want to understand how recovery works. Stump your neurologist with this question.

Standard dogma in brain exercise is that the more you use an area more neurons are recruited from adjacent areas to strengthen your ability to do those tasks. Ie. braille readers increase the area of the sensory cortex mapped to finger tips. This brings up the conundrum in stroke rehabilitation, we have lost millions of neurons and have damaged millions more. If we make the assumption that neurogenesis and stem cells will not be able to help us we are led down three possible paths of complete recovery. I actually believe in neurogenesis. :bouncing_off_wall:

1. Neurons can do double duty, control toe function and finger sensation.

2. Single neurons are enough to control functions. This is described here;

http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2011/04/single-neuron-power.html Meaning that we take an area that used to use 1000 neurons to control a function and reduce control to 1 neuron, thus freeing up 999 neurons for other uses. I'm sure it would take a lot of research to even prove if this is possible.

3. An area of the brain is selected for takeover, cleaned of its old functions and replaced with more agressive needs. Ie. toe function is lost and replaced with finger function. In this case you hope your cognitive functions are strong enough to resist being taken over.

Never mind me, my stroke-addled brain is trying too hard to figure out the brain. :roflmao: