PLoS ONE, 2013 · DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071181 · Published: August 12, 2013
This study investigates how the nervous system repairs itself after spinal injuries early in development. Researchers used marsupial opossums because their young are born very immature. Opossum pups had their spinal cords completely cut at either 7 days old or 28 days old, and then were allowed to grow into adults. The researchers then looked at how well they could move. The study found that opossums injured at 7 days old could regain near-normal walking ability, but those injured at 28 days old could only perform basic stepping movements. This suggests that the age at which the injury occurs greatly impacts the nervous system's ability to recover.
The study enhances understanding of spinal cord plasticity and spontaneous recovery mechanisms in early development, particularly the differences between injuries at different developmental stages.
The identification of propriospinal circuit remodeling in the absence of supraspinal input could lead to targeted therapies that enhance local spinal cord circuitry function after injury.
The research highlights the importance of choosing appropriate animal models (e.g., bipedal models) for spinal cord injury studies to better translate findings to human patients.