Stroke remains a leading cause of long-term disability, impacting millions of individuals annually. Patients with stroke can experience a variety of cognitive, physical and behavioral changes. While highly heterogeneous, these symptoms and their patterns of recovery are fundamentally driven by the brain’s organization, influenced by brain repair mechanisms such as plasticity. Advancing the standard of care in stroke will benefit from refining our understanding of the neural bases underlying impairment and recovery throughout acute, post-acute, and chronic stages; continued development of sophisticated techniques including (but not limited to) noninvasive brain stimulation and brain-computer interfaces (BCI); and emerging approaches such as precision medicine to address human needs at an individual level. This Research Topic explores these cutting-edge approaches, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest innovations and trends in stroke recovery.
This Research Topic seeks to develop a unified compendium of current knowledge and the latest research in stroke recovery, spanning all phases from acute to chronic, and covering key areas such as neural mechanisms (cellular and systemic), brain network reorganization, technological interventions, and personalized treatments. Readers will gain deeper insights into the mechanisms of recovery, how they can be modified by behavioral and technological interventions, and how these changes can generalize across contexts and domains—such as motor skills, speech, and cognition. An overarching goal of this collection is to summarize the state of the science for clinicians, scientists, and patients to understand current practice and emerging treatments. This knowledge will equip practitioners and researchers with insights about how to better expedite brain recovery after stroke, advancing the standard of stroke and neurovascular care and thereby improving population outcomes and personal quality of life.
We invite original research, clinical trial data, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses, with a focus on advancing knowledge on neural mechanisms underlying brain recovery from stroke. Please note that case reports will not be considered. Articles addressing the following topics are especially encouraged:
- Principles of brain recovery across acute, subacute, and/or chronic stages, including human centered, translational animal or computational studies).
- Current gaps in knowledge of post-stroke brain recovery particularly regarding mechanism-targeted interventions
- Biomarkers that define or predict post-stroke brain recovery.
- Brain rhythms, brain networks and neuromodulation
- Interventions influencing recovery after stroke, including behavioral therapies, and technologically based treatments such as targeted brain stimulation and brain-computer interfaces.
-Personalization and precision interventions, considering their suitability for different stages of brain recovery and varying injury severities.
- Studies linking neural recovery with functional recovery including motor, sensory, cognitive, speech, and language functions.
Please note that our current scope does not include pharmacological interventions or research on biomarkers.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Clinical Trial
Editorial
FAIR² Data
FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Clinical Trial
Editorial
FAIR² Data
FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Opinion
Original Research
Perspective
Review
Study Protocol
Systematic Review
Keywords: neuroplasticity, stroke, brain plasticity, brain recovery, sensorimotor, cognitive, speech and language recovery, visual field deficits, neglect, neurotechnology, brain stimulation, neural modulation, brain-computer interface (BCI), precision therapy
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
