PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Motor Neuroscience
This article is part of the Research TopicWomen in motor neuroscience 2025View all 7 articles
Neurorehabilitation Needs a Qualitative Perspective: A Case Exemplar from Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
- 2Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Canada
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Neurorehabilitation is a medical process using neuroplasticity to help people recover from nervous system damage (like stroke, injury or disease) by improving function, independence, and quality of life through therapies (physio, occupational, speech) to retrain the brain and learn new ways to perform daily tasks, addressing physical, cognitive, and emotional needs (1). This process is shaped by the dynamic interaction of the person, the environment, and the task. Quantitative methods rooted in the science of experience-dependent plasticity, and rigorous clinical trial designs have produced significant advances, including the development of novel neurotechnologies. However, the comprehensive translation of these advances into meaningful outcomes for people living with a neurological condition requires a broader perspective. Central to this perspective is the recognition that the recovery process, includes motor/physical, sensory/perceptual, cognitive, affective, and psychosocial dimensions. We emphasize the integration of qualitative methods into neurorehabilitation research to provide for better translation and a more comprehensive understanding of the process. This perspective is organized into four thematic sections: Foundations/Current Issues; Integration of Lived Experience to Improve Research and Current Practice; Recommendations for Behavioral Interventions; and Integration of Qualitative Methods into Clinically Less Mature Topics to reveal mechanisms that quantitative data alone cannot capture.
Keywords: mixed methods4, neurosciences2, recovery5, rehabilitation3, stroke1
Received: 17 Sep 2025; Accepted: 04 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Winstein and Demers. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Carolee Winstein
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