Use of CI therapy for improving motor ability after chronic CNS damage: a development prefigured by paul Bach-y-Rita.

Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita was one of the very few investigators to maintain that the motor ability of patients with chronic stroke and other types of damages to the nervous system is modifiable, and was certainly the most influential voice articulating this view in the second part of the 20th century. In my laboratory starting in 1986, we developed a clearly specified approach to neurorehabilitation treatment, found in placebo-controlled studies to be successful in producing substantial improvement in the use of an extremity affected by chronic stroke, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, and other types of central nervous system injury. The work from my laboratory therefore confirms the landmark view of Bach-y-Rita.