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The spinal cord is comprised of four types of neurons: motor neurons, pre-ganglionic neurons, ascending projection neurons, and spinal interneurons. Interneurons are neurons that process information within local circuits, and have an incredible ability for neuroplasticity, whether due to persistent activity, neural injury, or in response to disease. Although, by definition, their axons are restricted to the same structure as the soma (in this case the spinal cord), spinal interneurons are capable of sprouting and rewiring entire neural circuits, and contribute to some restoration of disrupted neural communication after injury to the spinal cord (i.e., "bypassing the lesion site). Spinal Interneurons provides a focused overview of how scientists classify interneurons in general, the techniques used to identify subsets of interneurons, their roles in specific neural circuits, and the scientific evidence for their neuroplasticity. Understanding the capacity for neuroplasticity and identity of specific spinal interneurons that are optimal for recovery, may help determine cellular candidates for developing therapies. Spinal Interneurons provides neuroscientists, clinicians, and trainees a reference book exclusively concentrating on spinal interneurons, the techniques and experiments employed to identify and study these cells as part of normal and compromised neural circuits, and highlights the therapeutic potential of these cells by presenting the relevant pre-clinical and clinical work to date. People in industry will also benefit from this book, which compiles the latest in therapeutic strategies for targeting spinal interneurons, what considerations there are for the development and use of treatments, and how such treatments can not only be translated to the clinic, but how existing treatments should be appropriately reverse-translated to the bench. - Comprehensive overview of techniques used to identify, characterize, and classify spinal interneurons and their role in neural circuits - Description of the role that spinal interneurons play in mediating plasticity after compromise to spinal neural networks - In-depth discussion of therapeutic potential of spinal interneurons for spinal cord injury and/or disease
Once thought to be rigidly wired, the spinal cord now is understood to display significant plastic properties, which are manifest as both physiological and structural alterations in response to changes in patterns of use, disuse, and damage. Activity-dependent increases in responsiveness of spinal cord circuits are now thought to underlie or contribute importantly to the hyperalgesia that often follows neurological injuries, the physical therapy-induced improvement in walking and running seen in patients with stroke and spinal cord injury, skill acquisition in normal children, and several other phenomena. Physiological mechanisms underlying spinal cord plasticity include denervation supersensitivity, long-term potentiation, long-term depression, and habituation. Anatomical plasticity seen in the spinal cord after partial injuries includes collateral sprouting of spared axons in response to injury of neighboring axons, and dendritic remodeling in response to loss of regionally segregated synaptic inputs. A form of neuroplasticity that is seen in the peripheral nerves and in the spinal cord of some cold-blooded animals, but not in the central nervous system of birds or mammals, is axon regeneration. It is often difficult to distinguish between regeneration of injured axons and collateral sprouting of neighboring uninjured axons, but the distinction could be very important, especially in the case of complete spinal cord injuries. Several instances of treatment-induced axonal changes that were originally thought to indicate regeneration have turned out to be collateral sprouting. There is reason to suspect that the molecular mechanisms that underlie these two phenomena are different, and, if so, therapeutic approaches to enhancing them may also prove to be very different.
Physical rehabilitation for walking recovery after spinal cord injury is undergoing a paradigm shift. Therapy historically has focused on compensation for sensorimotor deficits after SCI using wheelchairs and bracing to achieve mobility. With locomotor training, the aim is to promote recovery via activation of the neuromuscular system below the level of the lesion. What basic scientists have shown us as the potential of the nervous system for plasticity, to learn, even after injury is being translated into a rehabilitation strategy by taking advantage of the intrinsic biology of the central nervous system. While spinal cord injury from basic and clinical perspectives was the gateway for developing locomotor training, its application has been extended to other populations with neurologic dysfunction resulting in loss of walking or walking disability.
The area of spinal cord plasticity has become a very actively researched field. The spinal cord has long been known to organize reflex patterns and serve as the major transmission pathway for sensory and motor nerve impulses. However, the role of the spinal cord in information processing and in experience driven alterations is generally not recognized. With recent advances in neural recording techniques, behavioral technologies and neural tracing and imaging methods has come the ability to better assess the role of the spinal cord in behavioral control and alteration. The discoveries in recent years have been revolutionary. Alterations due to nociceptive inputs, simple learning paradigms and repetitive inputs have now been documented and their mechanisms are being elucidated. These findings have important clinical implications. The development of pathological pain after a spinal cord injury likely depends on the sensitization of neurons within the spinal cord. The capacity of the spinal cord to change as a function of experience, and adapt to new environmental relations, also affects the recovery locomotive function after a spinal cord injury. Mechanisms within the spinal cord can support stepping and the capacity for this behavior depends on behavioral training. By taking advantage of the plasticity inherent within the spinal cord, rehabilitative procedures may foster the recovery of function.
Studies of human movement have proliferated in recent years, and there have been many studies of spinal pathways in humans, their role in movement, and their dysfunction in neurological disorders. This comprehensive reference surveys the literature related to the control of spinal cord circuits in human subjects, showing how they can be studied, their role in normal movement, and how they malfunction in disease states. Chapters are highly illustrated and consistently organised, reviewing, for each pathway, the experimental background, methodology, organisation and control, role during motor tasks, and changes in patients with CNS lesions. Each chapter concludes with a helpful resume that can be used independently of the main text to provide practical guidance for clinical studies. This will be essential reading for research workers and clinicians involved in the study, treatment and rehabilitation of movement disorders.
With over 400 illustrations, this thoroughly updated edition examines how parts of the nervous system work together to regulate body systems and produce behavior.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant source of death and permanent disability, contributing to nearly one-third of all injury related deaths in the United States and exacting a profound personal and economic toll. Despite the increased resources that have recently been brought to bear to improve our understanding of TBI, the developme
This 2006 book describes how expression of neural plasticity can cause symptoms of disorder and disease instead of being beneficial.
CNS Regeneration focuses on some of the leading current neurological disease models and methods for promoting central nervous system regeneration. Editors and authors are experts in the field, with experience in basic as well as applied neuroscience. In a comprehensive, logical manner, the book unites important basic science advances in neuroscience with novel medical strategies. - The first comprehensive, authoritative volume on the topic of CNS regeneration - Reviews current therapeutic approaches - Editors and authors are experts in the field - Appeals to those interested in basic science as well as those concerned with its medical application
A comprehensive, multidisciplinary review, Neural Plasticity and Memory: From Genes to Brain Imaging provides an in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the study of the neurobiology of memory. Leading specialists share their scientific experience in the field, covering a wide range of topics where molecular, genetic, behavioral, and brain imaging techniq