How new tech and an old concept are shaping stroke care

Not so long ago, stroke patients were told by doctors that their brains wouldn’t recover. Now, it’s a very different picture, says Niamh Kennedy, lecturer in psychology at Ulster University.

“Now we know this isn’t true, and that the brain is constantly changing,” she says.

Kennedy’s research focuses on neuroplasticity, which is the concept that the brain can rewire itself. This has gone from an abstract concept to there being an explosion of research, she says.

“Neuroplasticity was first talked about over 100 years ago, but it wasn’t until the last 20 years that researchers have begun thinking about how to utilise this extraordinary phenomenon.”