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News

It’s long been known that people who experience a stroke can struggle with reading, but researchers weren’t clear exactly why. Now, a new study, led by researchers at Georgetown University, reveals that strokes can limit a person’s ability to use the meaning of words to help them recognize the words when reading.
The finding presents a possible opportunity for new therapeutic strategies to help people recover one of the most important life skills. Researchers looked at scanned images of brains damaged by stroke while study participants read aloud. They were then able to pinpoint a part of the brain and related connections that affect how deciphering the meanings of words facilitates reading. They determined that the reason some stroke survivors can’t use meanings of words to read is because they can’t map the words they are trying to pronounce back to the ideas behind the words.
The researchers also mapped the extent of the strokes with MRI imaging. The images revealed that damage along the superior temporal sulcus, a brain region that plays a crucial role in speech processing and auditory , reduced the advantage of being able to read high imageability over low imageability words, reflecting an inability to use meaning to support reading.They also found an overlapping brain region that was related to impairments in connecting meanings of words to their sounds, or phonology. Together, these results demonstrate that some reading deficits occur in left-hemisphere stroke survivors as a result of an impaired integration of meaning and phonology.
These findings clarify the neurobiology of reading and provide the strongest evidence to date for a form of reading disorder that can occur after a left hemisphere stroke,” says the study’s co-first author, Ryan Staples, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Turkeltaub’s lab.

I’m sure you know the HITT training principle, yes? But now, stroke rehabilitation professionals now have firm evidence to support implementing short, high-intensity interval training protocols in clinical practice (and by extension, into the community).
A study published just last week in Stroke, the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Heart Association noted the first randomised trial to examine a time-efficient, high intensity interval training programme to incorporate a phased and progressive approach.
An adaptive recumbent stepper was used, which was justified in that in meant more people could participate in high-intensity interval training, even those who cannot walk fast enough or long enough on a treadmill.
For us stroke survivors, it suggests that with the right support and guidance, stroke survivors can safely and effectively engage in high-intensity interval training, significantly improving their overall health and recovery.
Kevin Moncion, Lynden Rodrigues, Bernat De Las Heras, Kenneth S. Noguchi, Elise Wiley, Janice J. Eng, Marilyn MacKay-Lyons, Shane N. Sweet, Alexander Thiel, Joyce Fung, Paul Stratford, Julie A. Richardson, Maureen J. MacDonald, Marc Roig, Ada Tang. Cardiorespiratory Fitness Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training After Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Stroke, 2024;
DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.124.046564

Over a million people reside with effects of stroke in the UK right now and over 85% of people who have had a stroke now survive. But everyone knows that it’s the biggest disabler of all and also that effective help tails off soon in the community – and that survivors unfortunately tend to decline rather than improve. Recovering from a stroke can feel like trying to find your way through a dense fog—challenging and disorienting. That’s where ARNI (Action for Rehabilitation from Neurological Injury) comes into play.

ARNI has been around for nearly two decades. Recently, it’s been gaining attention for its remarkable benefits, making it essential for every stroke survivor. ARNI is a game-changer in stroke rehabilitation. ARNI is a specialised rehabilitation program designed for survivors of neurological injuries. Unlike traditional hospital rehab that’s one-size-fits-all, ARNI emphasises one-on-one personalised and active rehabilitation with the emphasis on maximal dosage of repetitions to optimally stimulate plasticity per session. This approach is reported often to get better results in terms of movement return (often clear, incremental spasticity/flaccidity declines over time which have the effect of increasing action control) than traditional, more passive therapy modes.

ARNI does its best to reverse this latter trend by providing dedicated and intensive help… having proven over the years that it is possible, with effort, to guide people to achieve real rehabs & much better qualities of life.

 

Stroke is the number 1 cause of disability in the UK, and someone has a stroke every 5 minutes. 4 out of 5 families will be touched by stroke at some point. ARNI (Action for Rehabilitation from Neurological Injury) UK Stroke Rehab Charity helps people of all ages who have suffered strokes, to recover in the community. To do this for each person, it matches survivors up with one of our 140 qualified and insured specialist neuro-exercise instructors who are then able to support the person at their home once therapy finishes, often due to time & resources.

ARNI Instructors assist survivors with the performance of functional task practice, physical coping strategies & resistance training. For example, they teach an innovative method for people with one virtually un-usable arm and weak leg to get down to and up from the floor safely and quickly without support from a chair or another person, thereby reducing the fear of falling -and also reducing the need to carry a stick. ARNI Charity also offers a comprehensive speech and language service, helping with communication, dysphagia & cognition.



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