In this study, we evaluated the role of residual supraspinal and afferent signaling and their convergence on the sublesional spinal network in subject diagnosed with complete paralysis (AIS-A).Methods: A combination of electrophysiologic techniques with positional changes and subject-driven reinforcement maneuvers was implemented in this study. Electrical stimulation was applied transcutaneously at the T9-L2 vertebra levels and the spinal cord motor evoked potentials (SEMP) were recorded from leg muscles. To test the influence of positional changes, the subject was placed in (i) supine, (ii) upright with partial body weight bearing and (iii) vertically suspended without body weight bearing positions.Results: Increase in amplitude of SEMP was observed during transition from supine to upright position, supporting the role of sensory input in lumbosacral network excitability. Additionally, amplitudes of SEMP were facilitated during reinforcement maneuvers, indicating a supralesional influence on sub-lesional network. After initial assessment, subject underwent rehabilitation therapy with following electrophysiological testing that reviled facilitation of SEMP. Conclusion:These results demonstrate that combination of electrophysiological techniques with positional and reinforcement maneuvers can add to the diagnostics of discomplete SCI. These findings also support an idea that integration of supraspinal and afferent information on sub-lesional circuitry plays a critical role in facilitation of spinal sensorimotor network in discomplete SCI.

The inhibitory management effect is usually un- derestimated in artificial control systems, using biological anal- ogy. According to our hypothesis, the muscle hypertonus could be effectively compensated via stimulation by bio plausible patterns. We proposed the approach for the compensatory stimulation device in development of previously presented archi- tecture of neurointerface, where (1) neuroport is implemented as DAC and stimulator, (2) neuroterminal – as neurosimulation of a set of oscillator motifs on one-board computer. In the set of experiments with 5 volunteers we measured the efficacy of motor neuron inhibition via antagonist muscle or nerve stim- ulation registering muscle force with and without antagonist stimulation. For the agonist activation, we used both voluntary activity and electrical stimulation. In the case of stimulation of both agonist and antagonist muscles and nerves, we exper- imented with delays between muscles stimulation starts in the range 0...20 ms. We registered the subjective discomfort rate. We didn’t identify a significant difference between antagonist muscle and nerve stimulation in both voluntary and stimulation of agonist activity. We determined the most effective delay between stimulation of agonist and antagonist muscle/nerve as 10–20 ms.