OBJECTIVE To use transcranial magnetic stimulation and electromyography to assess the potential for preserved function in the abdominal muscles in individuals classified with motor-complete spinal cord injury above T6. SUBJECTS Five individuals with spinal cord injury (C5-T3) and 5 able-bodied individuals. METHODS Transcranial magnetic stimulation was delivered over the abdominal region of ...

Prior work has demonstrated that spinal cord neurons, isolated from the brain through a spinal transection, can support learning. Spinally transected rats given legshock whenever one hindlimb is extended learn to maintain the shocked leg in a flexed position, minimizing net shock exposure. This capacity for learning is inhibited by prior exposure to an uncontrollable stimulus (e.g., intermitten...

This study aims at investigation of stimulation by using intra-spinal signals decoded from electrocorticography (ECoG) assessments to restore the movements of the leg in an animal model of spinal cord injury (SCI). The present work comprised of three steps. First, ECoG signals and the associated leg joint changes (hip, knee, and ankle) in sedated healthy rabbits were recorded in different trial...

The impact of traumatic spinal cord injury on structural integrity, cortical reorganization and ensuing disability is variable and may depend on a dynamic interaction between the severity of local damage and the capacity of the brain for plastic reorganization. We investigated trauma-induced anatomical changes in the spinal cord and brain, and explored their relationship to functional changes i...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of spinal cord stimulation on myocardial ischaemia, coronary blood flow, and myocardial oxygen consumption in angina pectoris induced by atrial pacing. DESIGN The heart was paced to angina during a control phase and treatment with spinal cord stimulation. Blood samples were drawn from a peripheral artery and the coronary sinus. SETTING Multidisciplinary ...

In this study we investigated the ability of sensory input to produce tonic responses in hindlimb muscles to facilitate standing in adult spinal rats and tested two hypotheses: 1) whether the spinal neural networks below a complete spinal cord transection can produce tonic reactions by activating different sensory inputs and 2) whether facilitation of tonic and rhythmic responses via activation...

PURPOSE To demonstrate that it is possible to acquire accurate functional magnetic resonance images from thoracic spinal cord neurons. MATERIALS AND METHODS The lower thoracic spinal dermatomes (T7-T11) on the right side of the body were mechanically stimulated by vibration for 15 participants. Neuronal responses to vibration sensation were measured in the thoracic spinal cord using a HASTE s...

The recent years brought a growing awareness for the existence of complex neuronal structures within the spinal cord that act as movement controllers. The presented pilot study addresses an extension of pure non-invasive spinal cord stimulation by adding an afferent input from electrically stimulated peripheral nerve. The goal was to assess electrophysiologically the influence of peripheral ner...

The role of endogenous calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in the nonadrenergic noncholinergic depressor response to spinal cord stimulation was studied in the pithed rat in vivo. Pithed rats were given hexamethonium (2 mg/kg per minute i.v.) to block autonomic outflow, and mean blood pressure was artificially maintained at approximately 100 mm Hg with methoxamine (10-15 ,ug/kg per minute i....