Cardiac rehabilitation is the standard-of-care treatment option for patients with cardiovascular disease and has been shown to improve many aspects critical to patient recovery. We believe that individuals who have had a stroke need to be treated similarly. We will study the effects of a comprehensive modified cardiac rehabilitation program to determine if it can improve some of the physical and psychosocial problems common in survivors of stroke with and without depression.

Stroke is a leading cause of disability in the U.S. and many Veteran stroke survivors live with severe disability. Despite recent advances in rehabilitation treatments many stroke survivors have persistent physical and mental difficulties such as reduced arm and leg function, difficulty thinking, and depression.
Developing treatments that address these problems is necessary to improve long-term recovery for stroke survivors. Aerobic exercise (AEx) can improve physical and mental function, and reduce depression. Additionally, AEx may enhance physical rehabilitation by making the brain more receptive to, and consequently improving the response to a rehabilitation treatment. Therefore, combining AEx with physical rehabilitation has the potential to improve multiple parts of stroke recovery. This study will examine the effect of combining AEx with physical rehabilitation on physical and mental function in stroke survivors. By gaining a better understanding of the effects of this combined intervention we aim to advance the rehabilitative care of Veteran stroke survivors.

Aerobic exercise training has positive effects on depression severity and mood in individuals with depression. The effects of single sessions of aerobic exercise may also provide some short-term benefits in depression. It is believed that a reduction in depression severity may be facilitated by changes in the nervous system, however this has yet to be examined. Although aerobic exercise has beneficial effects for those with depression it is unclear as to why this may occur. Therefore the goal of our project is to better understand the effect of a single session of aerobic exercise on the nervous system, physiology, and mood in depression.