Neuroplasticity Research

KEY FINDING: Spinal cord injury enables plasticity by down-regulating the Cl− co-transporter KCC2, which reduces GABAergic inhibition, enabling learning but also fueling over-excitation and nociceptive sensitization.

KEY FINDING: The amplitude of corticospinal responses and the magnitude of maximal voluntary contractions in targeted muscles increased after PCMS combined or not with exercise, but not after sham-PCMS combined with exercise.

KEY FINDING: Combined AIH and TST produce a synergistic effect on motor plasticity, resulting in greater functional benefits than either treatment alone.

KEY FINDING: Spinal cord ES was initially explored to target axons that were damaged after SCI in order to bias the direction and possibly extent of neurite outgrowth, suggesting that spinal cord direct current ES creates a relatively static EF.

KEY FINDING: MMS rehabilitation significantly increased the number of pellets taken at 13 and 14 weeks PI in rats with chronic cervical SCI, indicating an improvement in forelimb function.

KEY FINDING: PCMS combined with AIH resulted in a significantly greater increase in MEP amplitude compared to PCMS with sham AIH, suggesting enhanced corticospinal excitability.

KEY FINDING: Patterns of depolarization in neurons are shown to be important mediators of genetic expression patterns and molecular responses.

KEY FINDING: Daily acute intermittent hypoxia (dAIH) enhanced phrenic long-term facilitation (pLTF) bilaterally in rats with chronic cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) compared to those exposed to normoxia.

KEY FINDING: SCI patients showed reduced gray matter volume in the left middle frontal cortex, right superior orbital frontal cortex (OFC), and left inferior OFC.

KEY FINDING: ApoE4 mice showed worse locomotor function and coordination after SCI compared to ApoE3 mice, as measured by the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS) and ladder rung walk test (LRWT).