Effects of Stroke

Stroke can affect individuals in different ways:

 

Neurological Deficiencies Due to Stroke

Each part of your brain controls certain functions and motor skills. For instance, if a stroke occurs in the part of your brain that controls language, you may have difficulty speaking after a stroke. Listed below are the different areas of the brain and what each area is responsible for.

 

Frontal Lobe
voluntary motor skills, personality, problem solving ability, concentration, and organizational skills

Motor Strip
muscle movement

Sensory Strip
the senses

Parietal Lobe
the sense of touch or ability to feel pain, the ability to understand speech and language, and the ability to express yourself

Wernicke's Center
the ability to understand speech

Occipital Lobe
vision

Cerebellum
balance and the ability to coordinate multiple muscle groups simultaneously

Temporal Lobe
hearing and the memories of what is seen and heard

Broca's Center
the motor skills of speaking

 Common Function Loss Due to Stroke

Because our brains are divided into a left and right hemisphere, the effects of a stroke are dependant on which side of the brain suffers oxygenated blood loss.

 
Left-Sided Stroke Right-Sided Stroke
Affects movement and the muscles of the right side of the body, often causing paralysis Effects movement and the muscles on the left side of the body, often causing paralysis
Causes difficulty with language and vocabulary Causes difficulty with spatial awareness
Causes movement and reactions to be very slow Unable to perceive distances
Unable to see out of the right side of each eye Causes impulsive, erratic behavior
Causes loss of memory associated with language Unable to see out of the left side of each eye
Causes muscle weakness on the right side of the mouth and face, making speech difficult Causes loss of memory associated with motion or movement (you may need to relearn how to walk)
Unable to understand language or to speak Causes muscle weakness on the left side of the mouth and face making speech difficult
Unable to control muscle movement, coordination, or dexterity  

In many cases, it is possible for stroke victims to relearn lost skills. Rehabilitation is very important, and physical therapists and speech therapists are trained to help stroke patients recover lost functions. In situations where function is completely lost, therapists can sometimes devise ways of circumventing the loss.