Advances in neurology
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Advances in neurology · Jan 1997
ReviewIntervention strategies to enhance anatomical plasticity and recovery of function after spinal cord injury.
Taken together, our studies indicate that (a) transplants mediate recovery of skilled forelimb movement as well as locomotor activity, (b) combinations of interventions may be required to restore reflex, sensory, and locomotor function to more normal levels after SCI, and (c) that remodeling of particular pathways may contribute to recovery of rather specific aspects of motor function. In conclusion, we suggest that it seems unlikely that any single intervention strategy will be sufficient to ensure regeneration of damaged pathways and recovery of function after SCI. Clearly, work from a number of laboratories indicates that the dogma that mature CNS neurons are inherently incapable of regeneration of axons after injury is no longer tenable. ⋯ One might envision relatively short distance growth across the injury site to re-establish suprasegmental control. Coupled with strategies to enhance the anatomic and functional reorganization of spinal cord circuitry caudal to the level of the injury, even modest long distance growth may have sufficient functional impact. One might imagine the ability to learn to "use" even modest quantities of novel inputs in functionally useful, appropriate ways.
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Advances in neurology · Jan 1997
ReviewEmbryonic spinal cord transplants enhance locomotor performance in spinalized newborn rats.
The results of the present experiments demonstrate that fetal spinal cord transplants placed into the site of a complete transection in newborn rats permit the development of complex patterns of locomotion. These patterns differ in some respects from normal, but include weight support, appropriate postural adjustment, and coordination between forelimbs and hindlimbs. 5-HT agonists administered to transplanted rats can further modify these motor patterns in ways that may prove able to enhance locomotion. When placed into lesion cavities in adult spinal cord, cells genetically modified to express neurotrophins can survive, differentiate, and mimic at least one consequence of fetal transplants, rescue of axotomized neurons from retrograde cell death.