Persistent beneficial impact of H-reflex conditioning in spinal cord-injured rats.

TitlePersistent beneficial impact of H-reflex conditioning in spinal cord-injured rats.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2014
AuthorsChen, Y, Chen, L, Wang, Y, Wolpaw, J, Chen, XY
JournalJ Neurophysiol
Volume112
Issue10
Pagination2374-81
Date Published11/2014
ISSN1522-1598
KeywordsH-reflex conditioning, Learning, Locomotion, Memory, Motor control, Rehabilitation, spinal cord injury, spinal cord plasticity
Abstract

Operant conditioning of a spinal cord reflex can improve locomotion in rats and humans with incomplete spinal cord injury. This study examined the persistence of its beneficial effects. In rats in which a right lateral column contusion injury had produced asymmetric locomotion, up-conditioning of the right soleus H-reflex eliminated the asymmetry while down-conditioning had no effect. After the 50-day conditioning period ended, the H-reflex was monitored for 100 [±9 (SD)] (range 79-108) more days and locomotion was then reevaluated. After conditioning ended in up-conditioned rats, the H-reflex continued to increase, and locomotion continued to improve. In down-conditioned rats, the H-reflex decrease gradually disappeared after conditioning ended, and locomotion at the end of data collection remained as impaired as it had been before and immediately after down-conditioning. The persistence (and further progression) of H-reflex increase but not H-reflex decrease in these spinal cord-injured rats is consistent with the fact that up-conditioning improved their locomotion while down-conditioning did not. That is, even after up-conditioning ended, the up-conditioned H-reflex pathway remained adaptive because it improved locomotion. The persistence and further enhancement of the locomotor improvement indicates that spinal reflex conditioning protocols might supplement current therapies and enhance neurorehabilitation. They may be especially useful when significant spinal cord regeneration becomes possible and precise methods for retraining the regenerated spinal cord are needed.

URLhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25143542
DOI10.1152/jn.00422.2014
Alternate JournalJ. Neurophysiol.
PubMed ID25143542
PubMed Central IDPMC4233264
Grant ListHD-32571 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
HD-36020 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
NS-061823 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States
NS-22189 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States
P41 EB018783 / EB / NIBIB NIH HHS / United States
R01 EB000856 / EB / NIBIB NIH HHS / United States

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