Locomotor impact of beneficial or nonbeneficial H-reflex conditioning after spinal cord injury.

TitleLocomotor impact of beneficial or nonbeneficial H-reflex conditioning after spinal cord injury.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2014
AuthorsChen, Y, Chen, L, Liu, R, Wang, Y, Chen, XY, Wolpaw, J
JournalJ Neurophysiol
Volume111
Issue6
Pagination1249-58
Date Published03/2014
ISSN1522-1598
KeywordsAnimals, Conditioning, Operant, Female, H-Reflex, Learning, Locomotion, Male, Rats, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Spinal Cord Injuries
Abstract

When new motor learning changes neurons and synapses in the spinal cord, it may affect previously learned behaviors that depend on the same spinal neurons and synapses. To explore these effects, we used operant conditioning to strengthen or weaken the right soleus H-reflex pathway in rats in which a right spinal cord contusion had impaired locomotion. When up-conditioning increased the H-reflex, locomotion improved. Steps became longer, and step-cycle asymmetry (i.e., limping) disappeared. In contrast, when down-conditioning decreased the H-reflex, locomotion did not worsen. Steps did not become shorter, and asymmetry did not increase. Electromyographic and kinematic analyses explained how H-reflex increase improved locomotion and why H-reflex decrease did not further impair it. Although the impact of up-conditioning or down-conditioning on the H-reflex pathway was still present during locomotion, only up-conditioning affected the soleus locomotor burst. Additionally, compensatory plasticity apparently prevented the weaker H-reflex pathway caused by down-conditioning from weakening the locomotor burst and further impairing locomotion. The results support the hypothesis that the state of the spinal cord is a "negotiated equilibrium" that serves all the behaviors that depend on it. When new learning changes the spinal cord, old behaviors undergo concurrent relearning that preserves or improves their key features. Thus, if an old behavior has been impaired by trauma or disease, spinal reflex conditioning, by changing a specific pathway and triggering a new negotiation, may enable recovery beyond that achieved simply by practicing the old behavior. Spinal reflex conditioning protocols might complement other neurorehabilitation methods and enhance recovery.

URLhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24371288
DOI10.1152/jn.00756.2013
Alternate JournalJ. Neurophysiol.
PubMed ID24371288
PubMed Central IDPMC3949309
Grant ListHD-32571 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
HD-36020 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
NS-061823 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States
NS-22189 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States
P41 EB018783 / EB / NIBIB NIH HHS / United States
R01 EB000856 / EB / NIBIB NIH HHS / United States

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