Recovery of supraspinal control of stepping via indirect propriospinal relay connections after spinal cord injury

This study investigates how movement can be recovered after a spinal cord injury, even when the main pathways from the brain are severely damaged. The research suggests that the spinal cord can reorganize itself, using alternative routes (propriospinal connections) to bypass the injury and restore some control over stepping. The experiments involved creating spinal cord injuries in mice and observing their recovery, focusing on their ability to step. The researchers also manipulated specific neurons in the spinal cord to understand their role in this recovery process. The findings indicate that even with significant damage to the direct connections from the brain, the spinal cord's ability to form new connections allows for the recovery of stepping. This suggests new therapeutic approaches that focus on boosting these alternative pathways could help people recover from spinal cord injuries.

• 1
  Pronounced functional recovery can occur after severe SCI without the maintenance or regeneration of direct projections from the brain past the lesion.
• 2
  Propriospinal relay connections that bypass one or more injury sites are able to mediate spontaneous functional recovery and supraspinal control of stepping.
• 3
  Local thoracic propriospinal neurons were essential for the spontaneous recovery of bilateral stepping observed after a single hemisection or after two temporally and spatially separated hemisections.