Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: We show that epidural spinal cord stimulation can elicit stable bidirectional locomotion of decerebrate cats on a split-belt treadmill. The stepping pattern of one limb was similar to unidirectional forward walking and, the other-was similar to unidirectional backward walking. This confirms that spinal and brainstem circuitry are sufficient to control such complex and extraordinary motor tasks driven by somatosensory input. Interlimb coordination during forward and backward walking was preserved in 2 out of 4 animals during 'extreme' conditions when one of the treadmill belts was stopped. Bidirectional locomotion worsened but was still possible after temporary spinalization by cooling the spinal cord on a low thoracic level. These present evidence for the great degree of the automatism for this stepping mode defined by the spinal neuronal networks.
Source: Scientific Reports
Institutions: Russian Academy of Sciences, Pavlov Institute of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Russian Scientific Center of Radiology and Surgical Technologies, St Petersburg University, Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Phthisiopulmonology
Language: English
Topic: Spinal Cord Injury Research
Subfield: Clinical Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,990
OpenAlex ID: W3127085696