@article {3390, title = {Locomotor impact of beneficial or nonbeneficial H-reflex conditioning after spinal cord injury.}, journal = {J Neurophysiol}, volume = {111}, year = {2014}, month = {03/2014}, pages = {1249-58}, abstract = {When new motor learning changes neurons and synapses in the spinal cord, it may affect previously learned behaviors that depend on the same spinal neurons and synapses. To explore these effects, we used operant conditioning to strengthen or weaken the right soleus H-reflex pathway in rats in which a right spinal cord contusion had impaired locomotion. When up-conditioning increased the H-reflex, locomotion improved. Steps became longer, and step-cycle asymmetry (i.e., limping) disappeared. In contrast, when down-conditioning decreased the H-reflex, locomotion did not worsen. Steps did not become shorter, and asymmetry did not increase. Electromyographic and kinematic analyses explained how H-reflex increase improved locomotion and why H-reflex decrease did not further impair it. Although the impact of up-conditioning or down-conditioning on the H-reflex pathway was still present during locomotion, only up-conditioning affected the soleus locomotor burst. Additionally, compensatory plasticity apparently prevented the weaker H-reflex pathway caused by down-conditioning from weakening the locomotor burst and further impairing locomotion. The results support the hypothesis that the state of the spinal cord is a "negotiated equilibrium" that serves all the behaviors that depend on it. When new learning changes the spinal cord, old behaviors undergo concurrent relearning that preserves or improves their key features. Thus, if an old behavior has been impaired by trauma or disease, spinal reflex conditioning, by changing a specific pathway and triggering a new negotiation, may enable recovery beyond that achieved simply by practicing the old behavior. Spinal reflex conditioning protocols might complement other neurorehabilitation methods and enhance recovery.}, keywords = {Animals, Conditioning, Operant, Female, H-Reflex, Learning, Locomotion, Male, Rats, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Spinal Cord Injuries}, issn = {1522-1598}, doi = {10.1152/jn.00756.2013}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24371288}, author = {Yi Chen and Lu Chen and Liu, Rongliang and Wang, Yu and Xiang Yang Chen and Jonathan Wolpaw} } @article {3384, title = {Long-term recording of external urethral sphincter EMG activity in unanesthetized, unrestrained rats.}, journal = {Am J Physiol Renal Physiol}, volume = {307}, year = {2014}, month = {08/2014}, pages = {F485-97}, abstract = {

The external urethral sphincter muscle (EUS) plays an important role in urinary function and often contributes to urinary dysfunction. EUS study would benefit from methodology for longitudinal recording of electromyographic activity (EMG) in unanesthetized animals, but this muscle is a poor substrate for chronic intramuscular electrodes, and thus the required methodology has not been available. We describe a method for long-term recording of EUS EMG by implantation of fine wires adjacent to the EUS that are secured to the pubic bone. Wires pass subcutaneously to a skull-mounted plug and connect to the recording apparatus by a flexible cable attached to a commutator. A force transducer-mounted cup under a metabolic cage collected urine, allowing recording of EUS EMG and voided urine weight without anesthesia or restraint. Implant durability permitted EUS EMG recording during repeated (up to 3 times weekly) 24-h sessions for more than 8 wk. EMG and voiding properties were stable over weeks 2-8. The degree of EUS phasic activity (bursting) during voiding was highly variable, with an average of 25\% of voids not exhibiting bursting. Electrode implantation adjacent to the EUS yielded stable EMG recordings over extended periods and eliminated the confounding effects of anesthesia, physical restraint, and the potential for dislodgment of the chronically implanted intramuscular electrodes. These results show that micturition in unanesthetized, unrestrained rats is usually, but not always, associated with EUS bursting. This methodology is applicable to studying EUS behavior during progression of gradually evolving disease and injury models and in response to therapeutic interventions.

}, keywords = {Animals, Electrodes, Implanted, Electromyography, Female, Pubic Bone, Rats, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Urethra, Urination, Urodynamics}, issn = {1522-1466}, doi = {10.1152/ajprenal.00059.2014}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24990895}, author = {LaPallo, Brandon K and Jonathan Wolpaw and Xiang Yang Chen and Jonathan S. Carp} } @article {3090, title = {Operant conditioning of rat soleus H-reflex oppositely affects another H-reflex and changes locomotor kinematics.}, journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience}, volume = {31}, year = {2011}, month = {08/2011}, pages = {11370{\textendash}11375}, abstract = {H-reflex conditioning is a model for studying the plasticity associated with a new motor skill. We are exploring its effects on other reflexes and on locomotion. Rats were implanted with EMG electrodes in both solei (SOL(R) and SOL(L)) and right quadriceps (QD(R)), and stimulating cuffs on both posterior tibial (PT) nerves and right posterior femoral nerve. When SOL(R) EMG remained in a defined range, PT(R) stimulation just above M-response threshold elicited the SOL(R) H-reflex. Analogous procedures elicited the QD(R) and SOL(L) H-reflexes. After a control period, each rat was exposed for 50 d to a protocol that rewarded SOL(R) H-reflexes that were above (HRup rats) or below (HRdown rats) a criterion. HRup conditioning increased the SOL(R) H-reflex to 214 {\textpm} 37\% (mean {\textpm} SEM) of control (p = 0.02) and decreased the QD(R) H-reflex to 71 {\textpm} 26\% (p = 0.06). HRdown conditioning decreased the SOL(R) H-reflex to 69 {\textpm} 2\% (p < 0.001) and increased the QD(R) H-reflex to 121 {\textpm} 7\% (p = 0.02). These changes remained during locomotion. The SOL(L) H-reflex did not change. During the stance phase of locomotion, ankle plantarflexion increased in HRup rats and decreased in HRdown rats, hip extension did the opposite, and hip height did not change. The plasticity that changes the QD(R) H-reflex and locomotor kinematics may be inevitable (i.e., reactive) due to the ubiquity of activity-dependent CNS plasticity, and/or necessary (i.e., compensatory) to preserve other behaviors (e.g., locomotion) that would otherwise be disturbed by the change in the SOL(R) H-reflex pathway. The changes in joint angles, coupled with the preservation of hip height, suggest that compensatory plasticity did occur.}, keywords = {Rats, Sprague-Dawley}, issn = {1529-2401}, doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1526-11.2011}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21813696}, author = {Yi Chen and Lu Chen and Wang, Yu and Jonathan Wolpaw and Xiang Yang Chen} } @article {2106, title = {Analysis of the correlation between local field potentials and neuronal firing rate in the motor cortex.}, journal = {Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc}, volume = {1}, year = {2006}, month = {09/2006}, pages = {6185-8}, abstract = {

Neuronal firing rate has been the signal of choice for invasive motor\ brain\ machine\ interfaces\ (BMI). The use of local field potentials (LFP) in BMI experiments may provide additional dendritic information about movement intent and may improve performance. Here we study the time-varying amplitude modulated relationship between local field potentials (LFP) and single unit activity (SUA) in the motor cortex. We record LFP and SUA in the primary motor cortex of rats trained to perform a lever pressing task, and evaluate the correlation between pairs of peri-event time histograms (PETH) and movement evoked local field potentials (mEP) at the same electrode. Three different correlation coefficients were calculated and compared between the neuronal PETH and the magnitude and power of the mEP. Correlation as high as 0.7 for some neurons occurred between the PETH and the mEP magnitude. As expected, the correlations between the single trial LFP and SUV are much lower due to the inherent variability of both signals.

}, keywords = {Action Potentials, Animals, Brain, Brain Mapping, Electric Stimulation, Electrodes, Evoked Potentials, Motor, Male, Models, Statistical, Motor Cortex, Neurons, Rats, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Synaptic Transmission}, issn = {1557-170X}, doi = {10.1109/IEMBS.2006.260516}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17946745}, author = {Wang, Yiwen and Sanchez, Justin C and Principe, Jose and Mitzelfelt, Jeremiah D and Gunduz, Aysegul} } @article {2164, title = {Temporal transformation of multiunit activity improves identification of single motor units.}, journal = {J Neurosci Methods}, volume = {114}, year = {2002}, month = {02/2002}, pages = {87-98}, abstract = {

This report describes a temporally based method for identifying repetitive firing of motor units. This\ approach\ is ideally suited to spike trains with negative serially correlated inter-spike intervals (ISIs). It can also be applied to spike trains in which ISIs exhibit little serial correlation if their coefficient of variation (COV) is sufficiently low. Using a novel application of the Hough transform, this method (i.e. the modified Hough transform (MHT)) maps motor unit action potential (MUAP) firing times into a feature space with ISI and offset (defined as the latency from an arbitrary starting time to the first MUAP in the train) as dimensions. Each MUAP firing time corresponds to a pattern in the feature space that represents all possible MUAP trains with a firing at that time. Trains with stable ISIs produce clusters in the feature space, whereas randomly firing trains do not. The MHT provides a direct estimate of mean firing rate and its variability for the entire data segment, even if several individual MUAPs are obscured by firings from other motor units. Addition of this method to a shape-based classification\ approach\ markedly improved rejection of false positives using simulated data and identified spike trains in whole muscle electromyographic recordings from rats. The relative independence of the MHT from the need to correctly classify individual firings permits a global description of stable repetitive firing behavior that is complementary to shape-based approaches to MUAP classification.

}, keywords = {Action Potentials, Animals, Electromyography, H-Reflex, Motor Neurons, Muscle, Skeletal, Rats, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted}, issn = {0165-0270}, doi = {10.1016/S0165-0270(01)00517-9}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11850043}, author = {Gerwin Schalk and Jonathan S. Carp and Jonathan Wolpaw} } @article {3255, title = {Operantly conditioned plasticity and circadian rhythm in rat H-reflex are independent phenomena.}, journal = {Neuroscience letters}, volume = {195}, year = {1995}, month = {08/1995}, pages = {109{\textendash}112}, abstract = {Recent studies indicate that rats can increase or decrease H-reflex amplitude in response to an operant conditioning paradigm. In addition, rats also display a circadian rhythm in H-reflex amplitude. As part of the development of H-reflex conditioning in the rat as a new model for defining the plasticity underlying a simple form of learning, this study examined the relationship in the rat between operantly conditioned H-reflex change and the H-reflex circadian rhythm. When H-reflex amplitude increased or decreased in response to the operant conditioning program, its circadian rhythm showed no changes in phase and minimal change in amplitude. Furthermore, animals did not alter daily performance schedule so as to use the rhythm to increase reward probability. Thus, in the rat, H-reflex operant conditioning and the H-reflex circadian rhythm appear to be independent phenomena. The circadian rhythm should not be a significant complicating factor in studies of operantly conditioned H-reflex change.}, keywords = {circadian rhythm, H-Reflex, Learning, Memory, operant conditioning, Rats}, issn = {0304-3940}, doi = {10.1016/0304-3940(95)11793-V}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7478262}, author = {Xiang Yang Chen and Jonathan Wolpaw} }