Physical exercise and cognitive stimulation in people with stroke

Abstract

Introduction. Survivors of stroke experience sequelae such as decline in motor skills and cognitive impairment, leading to loss of independence and impaired quality of life. Therefore, it is important to consider physical exercise and cognitive stimulation as fundamental pillars within the rehabilitation process. Objective. To expose the generalities of stroke and the influence of physical exercise and cognitive stimulation. Methodology. A narrative review of the literature was carried out, in the first instance a search was made in the databases Scopus (143), Web of Science (58) and Pubmed (2945), from which a total of 3146 articles were found; of these a first selection was made by title with the keywords "physical activity or physical exercise and cognitive rehabilitation and cerebrovascular accident or stroke", 154 eligible articles were found; subsequently the selection was made by abstract of each article, with which 47 were accepted to carry out this study. Results and Conclusion: Physical exercise of any kind reduces limitations and benefits cardiorespiratory health, improves cognitive performance, recovers gait and functionality of the affected upper and lower limbs; cognitive stimulation promotes new synaptic connections in the brain to recover neuroplasticity and thus enhance brain function; so that these rehabilitation methods work reciprocally and reflect better performance when developed together giving guarantees of maintaining their functionality and independence in the long term. General study area: Physiotherapy. Specific study area: Physical activity. Type of study: Original articles.