Study: Functional electrical stimulation promotes neural cell proliferation in brains of rats with cerebral infarction

Previous studies have shown that proliferation of endogenous neural precursor cells cannot alone compensate for the damage to neurons and axons. From the perspective of neural plasticity, Dr. Yun Xiang and co-workers from Sun Yat-sen University in China observed the effects of functional electrical stimulation treatment on endogenous neural precursor cell proliferation and expression of basic fibroblast growth factor and epidermal growth factor in the rat brain on the infarct side.

The researchers found that functional electrical stimulation can promote endogenous neural precursor cell proliferation in the brains of acute cerebral infarction rats, enhance expression of basic fibroblast growth factor and epidermal growth factor, and improve the motor function of rats. The relevant study has been published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 3, 2014).