Neurorehabilitation and neural repair
-
Neurorehabil Neural Repair · Aug 2015
BDNF Induced by Treadmill Training Contributes to the Suppression of Spasticity and Allodynia After Spinal Cord Injury via Upregulation of KCC2.
Spasticity and allodynia are major sequelae that affect the quality of life and daily activities of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. Although rehabilitation ameliorates spasticity and allodynia, the molecular mechanisms involved in these processes remain elusive. ⋯ BDNF-mediated restoration of KCC2 expression underlies the suppression of spasticity and allodynia caused by rehabilitation.
-
Neurorehabil Neural Repair · Jun 2015
Case ReportsNeural Point-and-Click Communication by a Person With Incomplete Locked-In Syndrome.
A goal of brain-computer interface research is to develop fast and reliable means of communication for individuals with paralysis and anarthria. We evaluated the ability of an individual with incomplete locked-in syndrome enrolled in the BrainGate Neural Interface System pilot clinical trial to communicate using neural point-and-click control. A general-purpose interface was developed to provide control of a computer cursor in tandem with one of two on-screen virtual keyboards. ⋯ The Radial Keyboard yielded a significant improvement in typing accuracy and speed-enabling typing rates over 10 correct characters per minute. The participant used this interface to communicate face-to-face with research staff by using text-to-speech conversion, and remotely using an internet chat application. This study demonstrates the first use of an intracortical brain-computer interface for neural point-and-click communication by an individual with incomplete locked-in syndrome.
-
Neurorehabil Neural Repair · Jun 2015
Rehabilitative training promotes rapid motor recovery but delayed motor map reorganization in a rat cortical ischemic infarct model.
In preclinical stroke models, improvement in motor performance is associated with reorganization of cortical motor maps. However, the temporal relationship between performance gains and map plasticity is not clear. ⋯ Postinfarct rehabilitative training rapidly improves motor performance and movement quality after an ischemic infarct in motor cortex. However, training-induced motor improvements are not reflected in spared motor maps until substantially later, suggesting that early motor training after stroke can help shape the evolving poststroke neural network.
-
Neurorehabil Neural Repair · May 2015
Electrical stimulation of abdominal muscles to produce cough in spinal cord injury: effect of stimulus intensity.
Surface electrical stimulation of the abdominal muscles, with electrodes placed in the posterolateral position, combined with a voluntary cough can assist clearance of airway secretions in individuals with high-level spinal cord injury (SCI). ⋯ The plateau in expiratory cough flow that was associated with increasing expiratory pressures is indicative of dynamic airway compression. This suggests that the evoked cough will be effective in creating more turbulent airflow to further assist in dislodging mucus and secretions.
-
Neurorehabil Neural Repair · May 2015
High-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation alleviates spasticity after spinal contusion by inhibiting activated microglia in rats.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) can be used as a physical therapy for spasticity, but the effects of TENS on spasticity and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. ⋯ These results suggest that HF-TENS at 90% MT alleviates spasticity in rats with SCI by inhibiting activated microglia.