Reinforcement Learning Is Impaired in the Sub-acute Post-stroke Period.

The presence of a specific impairment in reinforcement learning in the first 3 months after stroke has important implications for rehabilitation. It might be necessary to either increase the amount of reinforcement feedback given early or even delay onset of certain forms of rehabilitation training, e.g., like constraint-induced movement therapy, and instead emphasize others forms of motor learning in this early time period. A deeper understanding of stroke-related changes in motor learning capacity has the potential to facilitate the development of new, more precise treatment interventions.