Sensory stimulation could prevent brain damage from stroke

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Imagine a safe, inexpensive and drug-free way to prevent the long-term brain damage that often follows a stroke. No such treatment exists, but a new study involving rats suggests it might not take much to prime the brain to repair itself in the immediate aftermath of a stroke.

For the rats, the simple act of tickling a whisker was enough to allow the animals to regain full cognitive function after a severe stroke — as long as the treatment was given within two hours.

"We're looking for something that can help people wherever they are and long before they get to the hospital," said UC Irvine neuroscientist Ron Frostig, who presented the findings last week at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego.

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-he-stroke-stimulation-20101118,0,4573832.story