Neurorehabilitation and neural repair
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Neurorehabil Neural Repair · Feb 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialExposure to acute intermittent hypoxia augments somatic motor function in humans with incomplete spinal cord injury.
Neural plasticity may contribute to motor recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI). In rat models of SCI with respiratory impairment, acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) strengthens synaptic inputs to phrenic motor neurons, thereby improving respiratory function by a mechanism known as respiratory long-term facilitation. Similar intermittent hypoxia-induced facilitation may be feasible in somatic motor pathways in humans. ⋯ AIH elicits sustained increases in volitional somatic motor output in persons with chronic SCI. Thus, AIH has promise as a therapeutic tool to induce plasticity and enhance motor function in SCI patients.