An exploratory intervention study suggests clinical benefits of training in chronic stroke to be paralleled by changes in brain activity using repeated fMRI.

Purpose: Previous studies demonstrated changes in sensorimotor network activation over time after stroke that have been interpreted as partly compensatory. Locomotor and balance trainings may improve both mobility and cognition even in chronic stroke and thereby impact on cerebral activation patterns. We here aimed at testing these assumptions in an exploratory study to inform subsequent larger intervention studies.