Functional magnetic resonance imaging in stroke recovery.

A better understanding of brain reorganization following stroke may have value in predicting outcome defining the targets of restorative therapies, measuring the physiology of recovery, and in serving as a biologic marker in studies targeting stroke recovery. Measures of brain organization may provide insights as to which patients retain relevant substrate for therapies that target restorative events. Brain reorganization can be studied with many different methods that often have complementary value. Functional MR imaging provides insights into brain plasticity after stroke and remains a valuable tool in the study of motor recovery after stroke.