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| Peter G. Levine Stronger After Stroke |
The key to recovery is challenge. Heck, the key to learning anything new is challenge. (For stroke survivors movements that need to be re-learned are "new.")
So how much challenge is needed? Let's put it this way, one of the treatments used to improve quality and speed of walking that seems very promising is called "speed dependent treadmill training." How challenging is it? Check this out…
The survivor gets on a treadmill and harnessed to the ceiling with a strap around their chest, just under their arms. The strap doesn't do anything – it's just a safety belt so if they fall, they don't fall- if you fall oh. (heh heh- still got it!)
The speed of the treadmill is turned up until either the therapist or the stroke survivor freaks out. Trust me, I'm only nominally paraphrasing here.
For this treatment, if speeds are plotted on a graph it looks kind of like the stock market – you have peaks and valleys but your speed is quicker at the end then at the beginning.
Think about that. The level of challenge is increased so much that it's defined by the person stumbling. This is where the brain operates. A safe brain does not grow. The brain has to be brought way outside it's comfort zone or doesn't change. True for anyone trying to learn anything. True for stroke survivors.
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