Plasticity After Spinal Cord Injury: Relevance to Recovery and Approaches to Facilitate It

After a spinal cord injury, the body can sometimes recover some motor, sensory, or autonomic functions spontaneously. These changes, both positive and negative, are referred to as plasticity. Plasticity involves various changes in the nervous system, such as alterations in spared neuronal circuits, axon sprouting, and synaptic rearrangements. Approaches to facilitate plasticity include activity-based therapies (rehabilitation), pharmacological treatments, and gene-delivery methods, often used in combination.

• 1
  Plasticity occurs throughout the neuraxis after spinal cord injury, involving alterations in neuronal circuits, axon sprouting, and synaptic rearrangements.
• 2
  Activity-based therapies, such as rehabilitative training, promote plasticity by up-regulating factors like brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cAMP levels.
• 3
  Pharmacological approaches targeting growth inhibition (e.g., chondroitinase ABC to digest CSPGs) or promoting axon outgrowth (e.g., Nogo-A neutralization) can enhance plasticity.