Is there a role for Amphetamine use in stroke rehabilitation?
Neurological deficits caused by stroke are maximal about the time of stroke onset. Nearly all stroke survivors improve to some extent in the weeks and months that follow. Yet, how the brain recovers after stroke is not well understood. Uninjured brain cells may “take over” functions that were previously performed by the damaged cells. The basis for such an adaptation is thought to be the same as that underlying normal learning and memory, processes that depend upon a physiological phenomenon called long-term potentiation (LTP). This involves a strengthening of the communication effectiveness between nerve cells. Nerve cell communication, in turn, depends on neurotransmitters, and these are affected by amphetamine. In laboratory animals, amphetamine enhances LTP, memory retrieval, and recovery from brain injury. Thus, it is attractive as an adjunct treatment in patients recovering from a stroke. Other agents also accelerate recovery from brain injury in the experimental setting. These i
