Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy in the Adult Rat after Unilateral Corticospinal Tract Injury

This study investigates whether rehabilitative training of the forelimb (forced limb use) influences behavioral recovery and plastic events after injury to a defined spinal tract, the corticospinal tract (CST). Use of the contralateral impaired forelimb was either restricted, by a cast, or forced, by casting the unimpaired forelimb immediately after injury for either 1 or 3 weeks. Forced use of the impaired forelimb was followed by full behavioral recovery on the irregular horizontal ladder, whereas animals that could not use their affected side remained impaired.

• 1
  Forced limb use after unilateral CST injury enhances behavioral recovery.
• 2
  Forced limb use increases compensatory growth, arborization, and synapse formation of the uninjured CST.
• 3
  Gene chip analysis reveals changes in growth factors, adhesion molecules, and synapse formation components in the denervated ventral horn.