Experimental neurology
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Experimental neurology · May 2017
Electrical neuromodulation of the cervical spinal cord facilitates forelimb skilled function recovery in spinal cord injured rats.
Enabling motor control by epidural electrical stimulation of the spinal cord is a promising therapeutic technique for the recovery of motor function after a spinal cord injury (SCI). Although epidural electrical stimulation has resulted in improvement in hindlimb motor function, it is unknown whether it has any therapeutic benefit for improving forelimb fine motor function after a cervical SCI. We tested whether trains of pulses delivered at spinal cord segments C6 and C8 would facilitate the recovery of forelimb fine motor control after a cervical SCI in rats. ⋯ Forelimb performance was similar when tested at stimulation frequencies of 20, 40, and 60Hz. We also found that the EMG activity in most forelimb muscles as well as the co-activation between flexor and extensor muscles increased post-injury. With epidural stimulation, however, this trend was reversed indicating that cervical epidural spinal cord stimulation has therapeutic potential for rehabilitation after a cervical SCI.