<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, AK</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Carruth, H</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Haywood, R</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Hill, NJ</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sarnacki, WA</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">McCane, LM</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">McFarland, DJ</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Effects of Sensorimotor Rhythm Modulation on the Human Flexor Carpi Radialis H-Reflex</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Frontiers in Neuroscience</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">brain-computer interface (BC)</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">EEG mu-rhythm</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord Injuries</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">task-dependent adaptation</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2018</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">07/2018</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2018.00505</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">12</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">People can learn over training sessions to increase or decrease sensorimotor rhythms (SMRs) in the electroencephalogram (EEG). Activity-dependent brain plasticity is thought to guide spinal plasticity during motor skill learning; thus, SMR training may affect spinal reflexes and thereby influence motor control. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of learned mu (8–13 Hz) SMR modulation on the flexor carpi radialis (FCR) H-reflex in 6 subjects with no known neurological conditions and 2 subjects with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). All subjects had learned and practiced over more than 10 &lt; 30-min training sessions to increase (SMR-up trials) and decrease (SMR-down trials) mu-rhythm amplitude over the hand/arm area of left sensorimotor cortex with ≥80% accuracy. Right FCR H-reflexes were elicited at random times during SMR-up and SMR-down trials, and in between trials. SMR modulation affected H-reflex size. In all the neurologically normal subjects, the H-reflex was significantly larger [116% ± 6 (mean ± SE)] during SMR-up trials than between trials, and significantly smaller (92% ± 1) during SMR-down trials than between trials (p &lt; 0.05 for both, paired t-test). One subject with SCI showed similar H-reflex size dependence (high for SMR-up trials, low for SMR-down trials): the other subject with SCI showed no dependence. These results support the hypothesis that SMR modulation has predictable effects on spinal reflex excitability in people who are neurologically normal; they also suggest that it might be used to enhance therapies that seek to improve functional recovery in some individuals with SCI or other CNS disorders.

</style></abstract><section><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">505</style></section></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Eftekhar, A</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Norton, JJS</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">McDonough, CM</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Retraining Reflexes: Clinical Translation of Spinal Reflex Operant Conditioning</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Neurotherapeutics</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">clinical translation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">neurological disorders</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rehabilitation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal reflex</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2018</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">07/2018</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13311-018-0643-2</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">15</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">669-683</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Neurological disorders, such as spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis cause motor impairments that are a huge burden at the individual, family, and societal levels. Spinal reflex abnormalities contribute to these impairments. Spinal reflex measurements play important roles in characterizing and monitoring neurological disorders and their associated motor impairments, such as spasticity, which affects nearly half of those with neurological disorders. Spinal reflexes can also serve as therapeutic targets themselves. Operant conditioning protocols can target beneficial plasticity to key reflex pathways; they can thereby trigger wider plasticity that improves impaired motor skills, such as locomotion. These protocols may complement standard therapies such as locomotor training and enhance functional recovery. This paper reviews the value of spinal reflexes and the therapeutic promise of spinal reflex operant conditioning protocols; it also considers the complex process of translating this promise into clinical reality.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">3</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Chen, Yi</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Chen, Lu</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Wang, Yu</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Chen, Xiang Yang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Why New Spinal Cord Plasticity Does Not Disrupt Old Motor Behaviors</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The Journal of Neuroscience</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">motor learning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rehabilitation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2017</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">July</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5566867/</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">37</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">8198-8206</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">When new motor learning changes the spinal cord, old behaviors are not impaired; their key features are preserved by additional compensatory plasticity. To explore the mechanisms responsible for this compensatory plasticity, we transected the spinal dorsal ascending tract before or after female rats acquired a new behavior—operantly conditioned increase or decrease in the right soleus H-reflex—and examined an old behavior—locomotion. Neither spinal dorsal ascending tract transection nor H-reflex conditioning alone impaired locomotion. Nevertheless, when spinal dorsal ascending tract transection and H-reflex conditioning were combined, the rats developed a limp and a tilted posture that correlated in direction and magnitude with the H-reflex change. When the right H-reflex was increased by conditioning, the right step lasted longer than the left and the right hip was higher than the left; when the right H-reflex was decreased by conditioning, the opposite occurred. These results indicate that ascending sensory input guides the compensatory plasticity that normally prevents the plasticity underlying H-reflex change from impairing locomotion. They support the concept of the state of the spinal cord as a negotiated equilibrium that reflects the concurrent influences of all the behaviors in an individual's repertoire; and they support the new therapeutic strategies this concept introduces.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">34</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Chadwick B. Boulay</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Electrocorticographic activity over sensorimotor cortex and motor function in awake behaving rats.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J Neurophysiol</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J. Neurophysiol.</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">brain-computer interface</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">cortex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Motor control</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2015</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">04/2015</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25632076</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">113</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2232-41</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;Sensorimotor cortex exerts both short-term and long-term control over the spinal reflex pathways that serve motor behaviors. Better understanding of this control could offer new possibilities for restoring function after central nervous system trauma or disease. We examined the impact of ongoing sensorimotor cortex (SMC) activity on the largely monosynaptic pathway of the H-reflex, the electrical analog of the spinal stretch reflex. In 41 awake adult rats, we measured soleus electromyographic (EMG) activity, the soleus H-reflex, and electrocorticographic activity over the contralateral SMC while rats were producing steady-state soleus EMG activity. Principal component analysis of electrocorticographic frequency spectra before H-reflex elicitation consistently revealed three frequency bands: μβ (5-30 Hz), low γ (γ1; 40-85 Hz), and high γ (γ2; 100-200 Hz). Ongoing (i.e., background) soleus EMG amplitude correlated negatively with μβ power and positively with γ1 power. In contrast, H-reflex size correlated positively with μβ power and negatively with γ1 power, but only when background soleus EMG amplitude was included in the linear model. These results support the hypothesis that increased SMC activation (indicated by decrease in μβ power and/or increase in γ1 power) simultaneously potentiates the H-reflex by exciting spinal motoneurons and suppresses it by decreasing the efficacy of the afferent input. They may help guide the development of new rehabilitation methods and of brain-computer interfaces that use SMC activity as a substitute for lost or impaired motor outputs.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">7</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>5</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Aiko K</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Targeted neuroplasticity for rehabilitation.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Progress in Brain Research</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Prog. Brain Res.</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">activity-dependent plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rehabilitation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal cord injury</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal reflex</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2015</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">03/2015</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25890136</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">218</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">157-72</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;An operant-conditioning protocol that bases reward on the electromyographic response produced by a specific CNS pathway can change that pathway. For example, in both animals and people, an operant-conditioning protocol can increase or decrease the spinal stretch reflex or its electrical analog, the H-reflex. Reflex change is associated with plasticity in the pathway of the reflex as well as elsewhere in the spinal cord and brain. Because these pathways serve many different behaviors, the plasticity produced by this conditioning can change other behaviors. Thus, in animals or people with partial spinal cord injuries, appropriate reflex conditioning can improve locomotion. Furthermore, in people with spinal cord injuries, appropriate reflex conditioning can trigger widespread beneficial plasticity. This wider plasticity appears to reflect an iterative process through which the multiple behaviors in the individual's repertoire negotiate the properties of the spinal neurons and synapses that they all use. Operant-conditioning protocols are a promising new therapeutic method that could complement other rehabilitation methods and enhance functional recovery. Their successful use requires strict adherence to appropriately designed procedures, as well as close attention to accommodating and engaging the individual subject in the conditioning process.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Yi Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lu Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Liu, Rongliang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Wang, Yu</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Locomotor impact of beneficial or nonbeneficial H-reflex conditioning after spinal cord injury.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J Neurophysiol</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J. Neurophysiol.</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Animals</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Conditioning, Operant</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Female</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Learning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Locomotion</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Male</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rats</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rats, Sprague-Dawley</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord Injuries</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2014</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">03/2014</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24371288</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">111</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1249-58</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">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 &quot;negotiated equilibrium&quot; 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.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">6</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Aiko K</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Front Integr Neurosci</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Front Integr Neurosci</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">learning and memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Locomotion</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal cord injury</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal cord plasticity</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2014</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">03/2014</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24672441</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">8</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">25</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">New appreciation of the adaptive capabilities of the nervous system, recent recognition that most spinal cord injuries are incomplete, and progress in enabling regeneration are generating growing interest in novel rehabilitation therapies. Here we review the 35-year evolution of one promising new approach, operant conditioning of spinal reflexes. This work began in the late 1970's as basic science; its purpose was to develop and exploit a uniquely accessible model for studying the acquisition and maintenance of a simple behavior in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). The model was developed first in monkeys and then in rats, mice, and humans. Studies with it showed that the ostensibly simple behavior (i.e., a larger or smaller reflex) rests on a complex hierarchy of brain and spinal cord plasticity; and current investigations are delineating this plasticity and its interactions with the plasticity that supports other behaviors. In the last decade, the possible therapeutic uses of reflex conditioning have come under study, first in rats and then in humans. The initial results are very exciting, and they are spurring further studies. At the same time, the original basic science purpose and the new clinical purpose are enabling and illuminating each other in unexpected ways. The long course and current state of this work illustrate the practical importance of basic research and the valuable synergy that can develop between basic science questions and clinical needs.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Aiko K</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The simplest motor skill: mechanisms and applications of reflex operant conditioning.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Exerc Sport Sci Rev</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Exerc Sport Sci Rev</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Animals</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Conditioning, Operant</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Humans</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Motor Skills</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Muscle, Skeletal</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Neuronal Plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord Injuries</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2014</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">04/2014</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24508738</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">42</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">82-90</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning protocols can change spinal reflexes gradually, which are the simplest behaviors. This article summarizes the evidence supporting two propositions: that these protocols provide excellent models for defining the substrates of learning and that they can induce and guide plasticity to help restore skills, such as locomotion, that have been impaired by spinal cord injury or other disorders.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Yi Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Wang, Yu</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Aiko</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan S. Carp</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Segal, Richard L.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Reflex conditioning: a new strategy for improving motor function after spinal cord injury.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">learning and memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Locomotion</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">reflex conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rehabilitation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal cord injury</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2010</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">06/2010</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20590534</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1198 Suppl 1</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">E12–E21</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal reflex conditioning changes reflex size, induces spinal cord plasticity, and modifies locomotion. Appropriate reflex conditioning can improve walking in rats after spinal cord injury (SCI). Reflex conditioning offers a new therapeutic strategy for restoring function in people with SCI. This approach can address the specific deficits of individuals with SCI by targeting specific reflex pathways for increased or decreased responsiveness. In addition, once clinically significant regeneration can be achieved, reflex conditioning could provide a means of reeducating the newly (and probably imperfectly) reconnected spinal cord.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Aiko K.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Acquisition of a simple motor skill: task-dependent adaptation plus long-term change in the human soleus H-reflex.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">motor learning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">motor skill</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2009</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">05/2009</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19420246</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">29</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">5784–5792</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Activity-dependent plasticity occurs throughout the CNS. However, investigations of skill acquisition usually focus on cortex. To expand the focus, we analyzed in humans the development of operantly conditioned H-reflex change, a simple motor skill that develops gradually and involves plasticity in both the brain and the spinal cord. Each person completed 6 baseline and 24 conditioning sessions over 10 weeks. In each conditioning session, the soleus H-reflex was measured while the subject was or was not asked to increase (HRup subjects) or decrease (HRdown subjects) it. When the subject was asked to change H-reflex size, immediate visual feedback indicated whether a size criterion had been satisfied. Over the 24 conditioning sessions, H-reflex size gradually increased in six of eight HRup subjects and decreased in eight of nine HRdown subjects, resulting in final sizes of 140 +/- 12 and 69 +/- 6% of baseline size, respectively. The final H-reflex change was the sum of within-session (i.e., task-dependent) adaptation and across-session (i.e., long-term) change. Task-dependent adaptation appeared within four to six sessions and persisted thereafter, averaging +13% in HRup subjects and -15% in HRdown subjects. In contrast, long-term change began after 10 sessions and increased gradually thereafter, reaching +27% in HRup subjects and -16% in HRdown subjects. Thus, the acquisition of H-reflex conditioning consists of two phenomena, task-dependent adaptation and long-term change, that together constitute the new motor skill. In combination with previous data, this new finding further elucidates the interaction of plasticity in brain and spinal cord that underlies the acquisition and maintenance of motor skills.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal cord plasticity in acquisition and maintenance of motor skills.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Acta physiologica (Oxford, England)</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Learning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">motor function</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rehabilitation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal cord injury</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2007</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">02/2007</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17250566</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">189</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">155–169</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Throughout normal life, activity-dependent plasticity occurs in the spinal cord as well as in brain. Like other central nervous system (CNS) plasticity, spinal cord plasticity can occur at numerous neuronal and synaptic sites and through a variety of mechanisms. Spinal cord plasticity is prominent early in life and contributes to mastery of standard behaviours like locomotion and rapid withdrawal from pain. Later in life, spinal cord plasticity has a role in acquisition and maintenance of new motor skills, and in compensation for peripheral and central changes accompanying ageing, disease and trauma. Mastery of the simplest behaviours is accompanied by complex spinal and supraspinal plasticity. This complexity is necessary, in order to preserve the complete behavioural repertoire, and is also inevitable, due to the ubiquity of activity-dependent CNS plasticity. Explorations of spinal cord plasticity are necessary for understanding motor skills. Furthermore, the spinal cord's comparative simplicity and accessibility makes it a logical starting point for studying skill acquisition. Induction and guidance of activity-dependent spinal cord plasticity will probably play an important role in realization of effective new rehabilitation methods for spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and other motor disorders.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Wang, Yu</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Pillai, Shreejith</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Motor learning changes GABAergic terminals on spinal motoneurons in normal rats.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The European journal of neuroscience</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">activity-dependent plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">GABA</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Motor control</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">01/2006</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16420424</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">23</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">141–150</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The role of spinal cord plasticity in motor learning is largely unknown. This study explored the effects of H-reflex operant conditioning, a simple model of motor learning, on GABAergic input to spinal motoneurons in rats. Soleus motoneurons were labeled by retrograde transport of a fluorescent tracer and GABAergic terminals on them were identified by glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD)67 immunoreactivity. Three groups were studied: (i) rats in which down-conditioning had reduced the H-reflex (successful HRdown rats); (ii) rats in which down-conditioning had not reduced the H-reflex (unsuccessful HRdown rats) and (iii) unconditioned (naive) rats. The number, size and GAD density of GABAergic terminals, and their coverage of the motoneuron, were significantly greater in successful HRdown rats than in unsuccessful HRdown or naive rats. It is likely that these differences are due to modifications in terminals from spinal interneurons in lamina VI-VII and that the increased terminal number, size, GAD density and coverage in successful HRdown rats reflect and convey a corticospinal tract influence that changes motoneuron firing threshold and thereby decreases the H-reflex. GABAergic terminals in spinal cord change after spinal cord transection. The present results demonstrate that such spinal cord plasticity also occurs in intact rats in the course of motor learning and suggest that this plasticity contributes to skill acquisition.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mazzocchio, Riccardo</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Kitago, Tomoko</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Liuzzi, Gianpiero</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Cohen, Leonardo G.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Plastic changes in the human H-reflex pathway at rest following skillful cycling training.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Locomotion</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">08/2006</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16793333</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">117</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1682–1691</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">OBJECTIVE:
The spinal cord is capable of activity-dependent plasticity, but the extent of its participation in human motor learning is not known. Here, we tested the hypothesis that acquisition of a locomotor-related skill modulates the pathway of the H-reflex, a measure of spinal cord excitability that is susceptible to plastic changes.
METHODS:
Subjects were tested on their ability to establish a constant cycling speed on a recumbent bike despite frequent changes in pedal resistance. The coefficient of variation of speed (CV(speed)) measured their ability to acquire this skill (decreasing CV(speed) with training reflects performance improvements). Soleus H-reflexes were taken at rest before and after cycling.
RESULTS:
Ability to establish a target speed increased and H-reflex size decreased more after cycling training involving frequent changes in pedal resistance that required calibrated locomotor compensatory action than with training involving constant pedal resistances and lesser compensation. The degree of performance improvement correlated with the reduction in the amplitude of the H-reflex.
CONCLUSIONS:
Skillful establishment of a constant cycling speed despite changing pedal resistances is associated with persistent modulation of activity in spinal pathways.
SIGNIFICANCE:
Recalibration of activity in the H-reflex pathway may be part of the control strategy required for locomotor-related skill acquisition.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lu Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jakeman, Lyn B.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Corticospinal tract transection reduces H-reflex circadian rhythm in rats.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Brain research</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">circadian rhythms</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">corticospinal tract</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">diurnal rhythm</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">rat</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal cord injury</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2002</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">06/2002</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12031858</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">942</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">101–108</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">In freely moving rats and monkeys, H-reflex amplitude displays a marked circadian variation without change in background motoneuron tone. In rats, the H-reflex is largest around noon and smallest around midnight. The present study evaluated in rats the effects on this rhythm of calibrated contusions of mid-thoracic spinal cord and mid-thoracic transection of specific spinal cord pathways. In 33 control rats, rhythm amplitude averaged 29.0(+/-2.6 S.E.)% of H-reflex amplitude. Contusion injuries at T8-9 that destroyed 53-88% of the white matter significantly reduced the rhythm to 18.9(+/-2.4)% of H-reflex amplitude. Transection of the ipsilateral lateral column, which contains the rubrospinal, vestibulospinal, and reticulospinal tracts, or bilateral transection of the dorsal column ascending tract did not affect rhythm amplitude or phase. In contrast, bilateral transection of the main corticospinal tract significantly reduced the rhythm to 14.7(+/-6.6)%. These results indicate that the H-reflex circadian rhythm depends in part on descending influence from the brain and that this influence is conveyed by the main corticospinal tract.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gerwin Schalk</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan S. Carp</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Temporal transformation of multiunit activity improves identification of single motor units.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J Neurosci Methods</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J. Neurosci. Methods</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Action Potentials</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Animals</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Electromyography</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Motor Neurons</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Muscle, Skeletal</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rats</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2002</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">02/2002</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11850043</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">114</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">87-98</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;&quot;&gt;This report describes a temporally based method for identifying repetitive firing of motor units. This&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;highlight&quot; style=&quot;font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;&quot;&gt;approach&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;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&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;highlight&quot; style=&quot;font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;&quot;&gt;approach&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan S. Carp</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sheikh, H.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Effects of chronic nerve cuff and intramuscular electrodes on rat triceps surae motor units.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Neuroscience letters</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">chronic recording</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">contraction time</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">implanted electrodes</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">motor units</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">nerve cuff</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">reinnervation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">sag</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2001</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">10/2001</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11578831</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">312</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1–4</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">In order to assess the long-term effects of implanted electrodes on motor unit properties, we studied triceps surae (TS) motor units in rats implanted for 3-10 months with a tibial nerve cuff electrode for H-reflex elicitation and intramuscular electrodes for recording TS electromyographic activity. Motor units with sag from implanted rats displayed greater tetanic force than those from unimplanted rats. Motor units without sag had shorter twitch contraction times. This disrupted the relationship between sag and contraction time that was always present in unimplanted rats. These differences were consistent with a small degree of muscle denervation and subsequent reinnervation. Further analyses ascribed this effect to the nerve cuff rather than to the intramuscular electrodes. Comparable changes in motor unit properties may occur in humans with implanted nerve cuffs.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan S. Carp</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sheikh, H.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Motor unit properties after operant conditioning of rat H-reflex.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">motor unit type</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">triceps surae</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2001</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">10/2001</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11681314</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">140</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">382–386</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of the H-reflex produces plasticity at several sites in the spinal cord, including the motoneuron. This study assessed whether this spinal cord plasticity is accompanied by changes in motor unit contractile properties. Thirty-one adult male Sprague-Dawley rats implanted for chronic recording of triceps surae electromyographic activity and H-reflex elicitation were exposed for at least 40 days to HRup or HRdown training, in which reward occurred when the H-reflex was greater than (12 HRup rats) or less than (12 HRdown rats) a criterion value, or continued under the control mode in which the H-reflex was simply measured (7 HRcon rats). At the end of H-reflex data collection, rats were anesthetized and the contractile properties of 797 single triceps surae motor units activated by intraaxonal (or intramyelin) current injection were determined. Motor units were classified as S, FR, Fint, or FF on the basis of sag and fatigue properties. Maximum tetanic force and twitch contraction time were also measured. HRdown rats exhibited a significant increase in the fatigue index of fast-twitch motor units. This resulted in a significant decrease in the percentage of Fint motor units and a significant increase in that of FR motor units. HRup conditioning had no effect on fatigue index. Neither HRup nor HRdown conditioning affected maximum tetanic force or twitch contraction time. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that conditioning mode-specific change in motoneuron firing patterns causes activity-dependent change in muscle properties.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan S. Carp</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sheikh, H.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of rat H-reflex affects motoneuron axonal conduction velocity.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">conduction velocity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">motoneuron</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2001</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">01/2001</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11206290</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">136</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">269–273</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">This study assessed the effects of operant conditioning of the H-reflex on motoneuron axonal conduction velocity in the rat. After measurement of the control H-reflex size, rats were either exposed for at least 40 days to the HRup or HRdown conditioning mode, in which reward occurred only if the soleus H-reflex was greater than (HRup mode) or less than (HRdown mode) a criterion or continued under the control condition (HRcon mode) in which the H-reflex was simply measured. We then measured axonal conduction velocity of triceps surae motor units of HRup, HRdown, and HRcon rats by stimulating the axon in the ventral root and recording from the tibial nerve. Conduction velocity was 8% less in successful HRdown rats than in HRcon rats (P=0.02). Conduction velocity in HRup rats and unsuccessful HRdown rats was not significantly different from that in HRcon rats. Since recording bypassed the intra-spinal portion of the motoneuron, the change was clearly in the axon. This decrease was similar to the 6% decrease previously found in successful HRdown monkeys. Unsuccessful HRdown rats and monkeys did not show this decrease. This result suggests that the mechanism of HRdown conditioning is similar in rats and monkeys and provides further support for the hypothesis that HRdown conditioning decreases motoneuron excitability by producing a positive shift in firing threshold. While traditional theories of learning emphasize synaptic plasticity, neuronal plasticity may also contribute to operantly conditioned behavioral changes.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of rat H-reflex: effects on mean latency and duration.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2001</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">01/2001</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11206291</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">136</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">274–279</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">We are currently studying the mechanisms of operantly conditioned changes in the H-reflex in the rat. Primate data suggest that H-reflex decrease is due to a positive shift in motoneuron firing threshold and a small decrease in the monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP), and that increase might be due to change in group-I oligosynaptic (especially disynaptic) input. To further evaluate the possibility of conditioned change in oligosynaptic input, we compared the mean latency (i.e., the average latency of the entire H-reflex) and the duration of control (i.e., pre-conditioning) H-reflexes with those of H-reflexes after up-conditioning or down-conditioning. Up-conditioning was associated with small, statistically significant increases in H-reflex mean latency [+0.11+/-0.05 (+/-SE) ms] and duration (+0.32+/-0.16 ms). The mean latency of the H-reflex increase (i.e., the part added to the H-reflex by up-conditioning) was 0.28+/-0.14 (+/-SE) ms greater than that of the control H-reflex. Down-conditioning had no significant effect on mean latency or duration. While these results indicate that operant conditioning does not greatly change H-reflex mean latency or duration, the effects detected with up-conditioning are consistent with the hypothesis that decreased inhibition, or increased excitation, by homonymous and heteronymous group-I oligosynaptic input contributes to the H-reflex increase produced by up-conditioning. Several other mechanisms might also account for these small effects.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jakeman, L. B.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Stokes, B. T.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of H-reflex increase in spinal cord–injured rats.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Journal of neurotrauma</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">rat</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">soleus muscle</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal cord injury</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1999</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">02/1999</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10098962</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">16</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">175–186</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of the spinal stretch reflex or its electrical analog, the H-reflex, is a new model for exploring the mechanisms of long-term supraspinal control over spinal cord function. Primates and rats can gradually increase (HRup conditioning mode) or decrease (HRdown conditioning mode) the H-reflex when reward is based on H-reflex amplitude. An earlier study indicated that HRdown conditioning of the soleus H-reflex in rats is impaired following contusion injury to thoracic spinal cord. The extent of impairment was correlated with the percent of white matter lost at the injury site. The present study investigated the effects of spinal cord injury on HRup conditioning. Soleus H-reflexes were elicited and recorded with chronically implanted electrodes from 14 rats that had been subjected to calibrated contusion injuries to the spinal cord at T8. At the lesion epicenter, 12-39% of the white matter remained. After control-mode data were collected, each rat was exposed to the HRup conditioning mode for 50 days. Final H-reflex amplitudes after HRup conditioning averaged 112% (+/-22% SD) of control. This value was significantly smaller than that for 13 normal rats exposed to HRup conditioning, in which final amplitude averaged 153% (+/-51%) SD of control. As previously reported for HRdown conditioning after spinal cord injury, success was inversely correlated with the severity of the injury as assessed by white matter preservation and by time to return of bladder function. HRup and HRdown conditioning are similarly sensitive to injury. These results further demonstrate that H-reflex conditioning is a sensitive measure of the long-term effects of injury on supraspinal control over spinal cord functions and could prove a valuable measure of therapeutic efficacy.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The complex structure of a simple memory.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Trends in neurosciences</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Learning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">stretch reflex</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1997</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">12/1997</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9416673</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">20</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">588–594</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of the vertebrate H-reflex, which appears to be closely related to learning that occurs in real life, is accompanied by plasticity at multiple sites. Change occurs in the firing threshold and conduction velocity of the motoneuron, in several different synaptic terminal populations on the motoneuron, and probably in interneurons as well. Change also occurs contralaterally. The corticospinal tract probably has an essential role in producing this plasticity. While certain of these changes, such as that in the firing threshold, are likely to contribute to the rewarded behavior (primary plasticity), others might preserve previously learned behaviors (compensatory plasticity), or are simply activity-driven products of change elsewhere (reactive plasticity). As these data and those from other simple vertebrate and invertebrate models indicate, a complex pattern of plasticity appears to be the necessary and inevitable outcome of even the simplest learning.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jakeman, L. B.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Stokes, B. T.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of H-reflex in spinal cord-injured rats.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Journal of neurotrauma</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">rat</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">soleus muscle</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal cord injury</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1996</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">12/1996</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9002061</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">13</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">755–766</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of the spinal stretch reflex or its electrical analog, the H-reflex, is a new model for exploring the mechanisms of supraspinal control over spinal cord function. Both rats and primates can gradually increase (HRup conditioning mode) or decrease (HRdown conditioning mode) soleus H-reflex magnitude when exposed to an operant conditioning task. This study used H-reflex operant conditioning to assess and modify spinal cord function after injury. Soleus H-reflexes were elicited and recorded with chronically implanted electrodes from rats that had been subjected to calibrated contusion injuries to the spinal cord at T8. From 18 to 140 days after injury, background EMG, M response amplitude, and initial H-reflex amplitude were not significantly different from those of normal rats. HRdown conditioning was successful in some, but not all, spinal cord-injured rats. The H-reflex decrease achieved by conditioning was inversely correlated with the severity of the injury as assessed histologically or by time to return of bladder function. It was not correlated with the length of time between injury and the beginning of conditioning. The results confirm the importance of descending control from supraspinal structures in mediating operantly conditioned change in H-reflex amplitude. In conjunction with recent human studies, they suggest that H-reflex conditioning could provide a sensitive new means for assessing spinal cord function after injury, and might also provide a method for initiating and guiding functional rehabilitation.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Reversal of H-reflex operant conditioning in the rat.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">rat</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">soleus muscle</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1996</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">11/1996</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8951407</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">112</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">58–62</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">In response to an operant conditioning task, rats can gradually increase or decrease soleus H-reflex amplitude without change in background electromyographic activity or M response amplitude. Both increase (under the HRup mode) and decrease (under the HRdown mode) develop over weeks. The present study investigated reversal of conditioned H-reflex change. Following collection of control data, rats were exposed to one mode (HRup or HRdown) for 50 days, and then exposed to the opposite mode for up to 72 days. Rats responded to each mode exposure with gradual, mode-appropriate change in H-reflex amplitude. This finding is consistent with other evidence that H-reflex conditioning depends on spinal cord plasticity. The effects of exposure to the HRup (or HRdown) mode were not affected by whether exposure followed previous exposure to the HRdown (or HRup) mode. In accord with recent studies suggesting that HRup and HRdown conditioning have different spinal mechanisms, these results suggest that reversal of H-reflex change is due primarily to the superimposition of additional plasticity rather than to decay of the plasticity responsible for the initial change.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operantly conditioned plasticity and circadian rhythm in rat H-reflex are independent phenomena.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Neuroscience letters</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">circadian rhythm</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Learning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rats</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1995</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">08/1995</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7478262</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">195</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">109–112</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">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.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiang Yang Chen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Circadian rhythm in rat H-reflex.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Brain research</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">circadian rhythm</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">electromyogram</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">rat</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">soleus</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1994</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">06/1994</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7922520</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">648</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">167–170</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">We measured soleus H-reflex in the Sprague-Dawley rat as a function of time of day. H-reflex amplitude displayed a marked diurnal variation, even though background EMG and M-response amplitude were stable through the day. The H-reflex was largest in the late morning and smallest around midnight. Thus, its rhythm was opposite in phase to the circadian rhythm found in the primate H-reflex. This rhythm is a potentially confounding factor in studies of motor function. Furthermore, its existence implies that the CNS activity underlying a specific motor performance varies with time of day.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Herchenroder, P. A.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan S. Carp</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of the primate H-reflex: factors affecting the magnitude of change.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">monkey</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Spinal Cord</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1993</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">12/1993</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8131830</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">97</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">31–39</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Primates can gradually increase or decrease H-reflex amplitude in one leg when reward depends on that amplitude. The magnitude of change varies greatly from animal to animal. This study sought to define the factors that control this magnitude. It evaluated the influence of animal age, muscle size (absolute and relative), background electromyographic activity (EMG) level, M response amplitude, initial H-reflex amplitude, performance intensity, and behavior of the contralateral leg. Fifty-four animals (Macaca nemestrina) underwent operant conditioning of the triceps surae H-reflex in one leg (the trained leg). Twenty-eight were rewarded for larger H-reflexes (HRup animals), and 26 were rewarded for smaller H-reflexes (HRdown animals). In the HRup animals, H-reflex amplitude in the trained leg rose to an average final value of 177% of its initial amplitude. Magnitude of increase varied widely across animals. Nine animals rose to 120-140%, 11 to 160-240%, three to 300% or more, and five remained within 20% of initial amplitude. In the HRdown animals, H-reflex amplitude in the trained leg decreased to an average of 69% of initial amplitude. Magnitude of decrease varied widely. Five animals decreased to 20-40%, seven to 40-60%, six to 60-80%, and eight remained within 20% of initial amplitude. Animal age, as assessed by weight, markedly affected HRdown conditioning, but not HRup conditioning. Heavy HRdown animals (&gt; or = 6 kg) were more successful than light HRdown animals (&lt; 6 kg). Thirteen of 14 heavy animals and only five of 12 light animals decreased to less than 80% of initial amplitude.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Herchenroder, P. A.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of H-reflex in freely moving monkeys.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Journal of neuroscience methods</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">primate</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">stretch reflex</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1990</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">02/1990</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2319815</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">31</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">145–152</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The H-reflex, the electrical analog of the stretch reflex or tendon jerk, is the simplest behavior of the primate CNS. It is subserved by a wholly spinal two-neuron reflex arc. Recent studies show that this reflex can be increased or decreased by operant conditioning, and that such conditioning causes plastic changes in the spinal cord itself. Thus, H-reflex conditioning provides a powerful new model for investigating primate memory traces. The key feature of this model, the conditioning task, originally required animal restraint. This report describes a new tether-based design that allows H-reflex measurement and conditioning without restraint. This design integrates the conditioning task into the life of the freely moving animal.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jonathan Wolpaw</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Dowman, R.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operant conditioning of primate spinal reflexes: effect on cortical SEPs.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">cortical response</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">H-Reflex</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Learning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Memory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">operant conditioning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">plasticity</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">somatosensory evoked potential</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spinal reflex</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1988</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">04/1988</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2450739</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">69</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">398–401</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Previous studies have demonstrated operant conditioning of the primate spinal stretch reflex (SSR) and of its electrical analog, the H-reflex. We studied the evoked potential recorded over primary somatosensory cortex (SEP) which accompanies the H-reflex to determine whether the initial cortical response changes in the course of conditioned H-reflex change. When H-reflex amplitude changed, SEP amplitude also changed, but only half as much as the H-reflex. The results indicate that, while operant conditioning of the H-reflex has its largest effect on the spinal pathway of the reflex, it also has some effect on supraspinal pathways of the initial cortical response.</style></abstract></record></records></xml>