Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jun 2015
Spinal Interneurons and Forelimb Plasticity Following Incomplete Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in Adult Rats.
Cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) disrupts bulbospinal projections to motoneurons controlling the upper limbs, resulting in significant functional impairments. Ongoing clinical and experimental research has revealed several lines of evidence for functional neuroplasticity and recovery of upper extremity function after SCI. The underlying neural substrates, however, have not been thoroughly characterized. ⋯ No changes in labeling were observed 16 weeks post-injury, despite a moderate degree of recovery of forelimb motor function. These results suggest that recovery of the forelimb function assessed following C2Hx injury does not involve recruitment of new interneurons into the ipsilateral ECRL motor pathway. However, the functional significance of these existing interneurons to motor recovery requires further exploration.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jun 2015
Characterizing the temporal development of cardiovascular dysfunction in response to spinal cord injury.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is associated with rapid and sustained impairments in cardiovascular function that ultimately cause an early onset of cardiovascular disease. We know remarkably little about the temporal progression of cardiovascular disturbances, but such an understanding is critical to inform clinical management and develop appropriate intervention strategies. To characterize the cardiovascular response to SCI, six male Wistar rats were instrumented with telemetry and assessed for continuous arterial blood pressure (BP), core body temperature, and heart rate (HR) 7 days before and up to 28 days after T3 SCI. ⋯ The pressor response to colorectal distension was greater at 14, 21, and 28 days post-SCI compared with at 7 days post-SCI (all p<0.004). In conclusion, SCI induces rapid and profound alterations in basal hemodynamics and diurnal rhythms that partially recover by 14 days post-SCI. AD, on the other hand, is acutely present post-SCI, but the frequency and severity of AD events increase substantially from 14 days post-SCI on.