Parvalbumin interneurons regulate rehabilitation-induced functional recovery after stroke and identify a rehabilitation drug.

ABSTRACT: Motor disability is a critical impairment in stroke patients. Rehabilitation has a limited effect on recovery; but there is no medical therapy for post-stroke recovery. The biological mechanisms of rehabilitation in the brain remain unknown. Here, using a photothrombotic stroke model in male mice, we demonstrate that rehabilitation after stroke selectively enhances synapse formation in presynaptic parvalbumin interneurons and postsynaptic neurons in the rostral forelimb motor area with axonal projections to the caudal forelimb motor area where stroke was induced (stroke-projecting neuron). Rehabilitation improves motor performance and neuronal functional connectivity, while inhibition of stroke-projecting neurons diminishes motor recovery. Stroke-projecting neurons show decreased dendritic

SUBMITTER: Okabe N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11910580 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature