In this study researchers aim to improve the collaborative research efforts of the Center for Rehabilitation Research in Neurological Conditions at the Medical University of South Carolina. The Center is comprised of several laboratories, including: the Communication and Swallowing Laboratory; the Locomotor Energetics and Assessment Laboratory; the Locomotor Rehabilitation Laboratory; the Neuromuscular Assessment Laboratory; and the Upper Extremity Motor Function Laboratory. The PI and investigators will recruit for their current and future studies in the above laboratories from the Clinical Database established here. Studies utilizing the Clinical Database will not include PHI but will only link to the Clinical Database individual patient code. This study is completed by completing a simple screening form with study personnel. Medical care/treatment future participation in studies is not influenced by inclusion in this study. We are also recruiting Healthy Controls for this study.

Rehabilitation interventions including resistance training, functional and task-specific therapy, and gait or locomotor training have been shown to be successful in improving motor function in individuals with neurologic disease or injury. Recent investigations conducted in our laboratory indicate that intense resistance training coupled with task-specific functional training lead to significant gains in functional motor recovery. Similarly, gait rehabilitation involving intense treadmill training and/or task-specific locomotor training has been shown to be effective in improving locomotor ability. However, the underlying neural adaptations associated with these therapeutic approaches are not well understood. Our primary goal is to understand the motor control underpinnings of neurologic rehabilitation in order to apply this knowledge to future generations of therapeutic interventions.

RESTORE is a database of individuals who are interested in being contacted about future stroke research at the Medical University of South Carolina. Included in the database is health information and characteristics about the individual's health, stroke, and their recovery. The results of other stroke recovery studies the individual participates in at MUSC will also be in the database. The database and information included will lead to better and more targeted recruitment for stroke recovery projects.

The aim of this study is to gather information about veterans at the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Medical Center (RHJ-VAMC) who've experienced a stroke and are interested in participating in rehabilitation research.

VA principal investigators at the Center for Rehabilitation Research in Neurologic Conditions (CRRNC) conduct stroke rehabilitation research for individuals. CRRNC include laboratories that investigate and assess upper extremity motor function, neuro-stimulation, communication and swallowing, locomotor energetics, locomotor and rehabilitation, and motor performance functions.

Participants will be asked to come to the CRRNC located at the Medical University of South Carolina (77 President Street, Charleston, South Carolina) and fill out a simple screening form with study personnel. Participants may be contacted in the future for qualifying studies.

CREST-2 is two parallel multi-center randomized, observer-blinded endpoint clinical trials. One trial will assess treatment differences between intensive medical management alone compared to carotid endarterectomy procedure plus intensive medical management. The parallel trial will assess treatment differences between intensive medical management alone compared to carotid artery stenting plus intensive medical management. Intensive medical management will involve control of blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, cigarette smoking, and other vascular risk factors.

Reflexes are important parts of our movements. When reflexes are not working well, movements are clumsy or even impossible. After stroke, reflex responses may change. Researchers have found that people can learn to increase or decrease a reflex response with training. Recently, we have found that rats and people with partial spinal cord injuries can walk better after they are trained to change a spinal cord reflex. Thus, learning to change a reflex response may help people recover after a nervous system injury. In this study, we aim to examine whether learning to change a spinal reflex through operant conditioning training can improve movement function recovery in people after stroke or other damage to the nervous system.

This is an ancillary study on the Phase 3 parent trial (CREST-2) in which patients with asymptomatic high grade carotid artery stenosis have enrolled to receive either a novel intensive medical management plan alone, or in combination with either Carotid Endarterectomy (CEA) or Carotid artery stenting (CAS). Patients enrolled in CREST-H will undergo a baseline MRI and some patients will also undergo a followup MRI at 1 year. The purpose is to determine whether cognition can be improved by revascularization among the subset of CREST-2 patients with hemodynamic impairment and mild cognitive impairment at baseline.

Stroke affects millions of Americans and is a leading cause of disability. In addition to chronic disability, many survivors experience depressive symptoms such as reductions in mood and motivation. Post-stroke depression (PSD) is associated with poorer recovery from stroke, increased health care costs and higher mortality. Additionally, PSD may interfere with the recovery of the nervous system after stroke. Effective treatment options for PSD are limited and often come with side effects, highlighting the need for alternative treatment approaches. Aerobic exercise (AEx) has positive effects on the nervous system, is a powerful anti-depressant, and has limited side effects, yet remains underutilized in stroke survivors with PSD. This study will examine the short-term effects of AEx on the nervous system in stroke survivors with and without PSD. The results will serve as a foundation for the study of AEx as a treatment for PSD.

This research is being done to find out if brain stimulation combined with a rehabilitation therapy improves arm weakness as a result of having a stroke. The stimulation technique is called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). The treatment uses direct electrical currents to stimulate specific parts of the brain. The rehabilitation therapy is called "modified Constraint Induced Movement Therapy" (mCIMT). During this rehabilitation therapy study participants will wear a mitt on the hand of the arm that was not affected by their stroke. It is designed to restrain the use of the unaffected arm, while performing therapy with impaired one.
It is not known if brain stimulation combined with rehabilitation therapy will improve arm weakness. Study participants will receive rehabilitation therapy while on this study. Study participants may or may not receive the brain stimulation therapy.

The goal of this study is to determine the pattern of cognitive impairment in chronic stroke, both in terms of performance during cognitive testing as well as brain neurocircuit activation.