Answer

Answer 19-23. Recovery from stroke may be complete or incomplete. Some tissue is functionally damaged but not killed (ischemic penumbra) and this area may recover early on. There is some redundancy of function and other areas can take over. There is some resolution of cytotoxic edema (not treatable by steroids). There is some plasticity, even in the adult brain and this can be encouraged by rehabilitation. While there may be new neurons produced, we are not sure whether they are functionally important. Later recovery involved compensation, when other methods of recovery fail. Compensation requires recognition of deficits and the ability to incorporate strategies to get around the deficits.