Inducing hindlimb locomotor recovery in adult XXXX after complete thoracic spinal cord section using repeated treadmill training with perineal stimulation only.

@entity1566 @entity717 @entity1 @entity35
UNASSIGNED: Although a complete thoracic spinal cord section in various mammals induces paralysis of @entity717 , the spinal lumbosacral circuitry below the lesion retains its ability to generate hindlimb locomotion. This important capacity may contribute to the overall locomotor recovery after partial @entity1566 ( @entity1566 ). In @entity35 , it is usually triggered by pharmacological and/or electrical stimulation of the cord while a robot sustains the animals in an upright posture. In the present study we daily trained a group of adult spinal (T7) @entity35 to walk with the hindlimbs for 10 wk (10 min/day for 5 days/wk), using only perineal stimulation. Kinematic analysis and terminal electromyographic recordings revealed a strong effect of training on the reexpression of hindlimb locomotion. Indeed, trained animals gradually improved their locomotion while untrained animals worsened throughout the post- @entity1566 period. Kinematic parameters such as averaged and instant swing phase velocity, step cycle variability, foot drag duration, off period duration, and relationship between the swing features returned to normal values only in trained animals. The present results clearly demonstrate that treadmill training alone, in a normal horizontal posture, elicited by noninvasive perineal stimulation is sufficient to induce a persistent hindlimb locomotor recovery without the need for more complex strategies. This provides a baseline level that should be clearly surpassed if additional locomotor-enabling procedures are added. Moreover, it has a clinical value since intrinsic spinal reorganization induced by training should contribute to improve locomotor recovery together with afferent feedback and supraspinal modifications in @entity1 with incomplete @entity1566 .
