Learning of Leg Position in Chronic Spinal Rats

Buerger, A. A.; Fennessy, A.

doi:10.1038/225751a0

Cited by 31 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The strain gauge output was fed through a multimeter calibrated to allow conversion between voltage and force in N. Instrumental (response-outcome) learning in the spinal cord was evaluated by arranging a relationship between leg position (response) and shock to the tibialis anterior muscle (outcome). Prior work has shown that in the presence of this controllable stimulation the spinal cord rapidly learns to hold the leg in a flexed position, minimizing shock exposure (Buerger and Fennessy, 1970; Grau et al, 1998; Jindrich et al, 2009). We assessed leg position by attaching a stainless steel contact electrode (7 cm × 0.46 mm) to the plantar surface of one hind leg and submerging the tip of the electrode 4 mm below the surface of an underlying saline solution.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The spinal cord was trained using a well-established three-group design consisting of master, yoked, and unshocked rats run simultaneously in sets of three rats (Figures 1A and 1B; Horridge, 1962; Buerger and Fennessy, 1970; Grau et al, 1998). All rats were prepared for spinal training as described above and then randomized to the three different conditions.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unshocked rats received no leg stimulation. Prior work has shown that under these conditions the master rats will acquire the flexion response, and yoked rats will fail (Horridge, 1962; Buerger and Fennessy, 1970; Grau et al, 1998; Jindrich et al, 2009). When all three groups are later re-tested with response-contingent stimulation, the master animals re-acquire the response at a faster rate than unshocked controls and the yoked animals fail to learn (Grau et al, 1998, 2004; Crown and Grau, 2001; Huie et al, 2012a).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, uncovering the interactions between these different forms of spinal neuroplasticity has clinical relevance for developing rehabilitative therapies that maximize beneficial recovery and minimize harmful side effects such as pain. To study spinal plasticity mechanistically we have used a simple model of instrumental learning in the isolated spinal cord (Buerger and Fennessy, 1970; Grau et al, 1998). Rats with complete spinal transections receive electrical stimulation to the tibialis anterior muscle of one hindlimb whenever that limb is extended ( controllable stimulation ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Central nociceptive sensitization vs. spinal cord training: opposing forms of plasticity that dictate function after complete spinal cord injury

Ferguson¹,

Huie²,

Crown³

et al. 2012

Front. Physio.

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The spinal cord demonstrates several forms of plasticity that resemble brain-dependent learning and memory. Among the most studied form of spinal plasticity is spinal memory for noxious (nociceptive) stimulation. Numerous papers have described central pain as a spinally-stored memory that enhances future responses to cutaneous stimulation. This phenomenon, known as central sensitization, has broad relevance to a range of pathological conditions. Work from the spinal cord injury (SCI) field indicates that the lumbar spinal cord demonstrates several other forms of plasticity, including formal learning and memory. After complete thoracic SCI, the lumbar spinal cord can be trained by delivering stimulation to the hindleg when the leg is extended. In the presence of this response-contingent stimulation the spinal cord rapidly learns to hold the leg in a flexed position, a centrally mediated effect that meets the formal criteria for instrumental (response-outcome) learning. Instrumental flexion training produces a central change in spinal plasticity that enables future spinal learning on both the ipsilateral and contralateral leg. However, if stimulation is given in a response-independent manner, the spinal cord develops central maladaptive plasticity that undermines future spinal learning on both legs. The present paper tests for interactions between spinal cord training and central nociceptive sensitization after complete spinal cord transection. We found that spinal training alters future central sensitization by intradermal formalin (24 h post-training). Conversely intradermal formalin impaired future spinal learning (24 h post-injection). Because formalin-induced central sensitization has been shown to involve NMDA receptor activation, we tested whether pre-treatment with NMDA would also affect spinal learning in manner similar to formalin. We found intrathecal NMDA impaired learning in a dose-dependent fashion, and that this effect endures for at least 24 h. These data provide strong evidence for an opposing relationship between nociceptive plasticity and use-dependent learning in the spinal cord. The present work has clinical implications given recent findings that adaptive spinal training improves recovery in humans with SCI. Nociception below the SCI may undermine this rehabilitation potential.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Central nociceptive sensitization vs. spinal cord training: opposing forms of plasticity that dictate function after complete spinal cord injury

Ferguson¹,

Huie²,

Crown³

et al. 2012

Front. Physio.

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show abstract

“…For example, in the SCI literature, it has been well established that there is plasticity and functional reorganization below a complete transection (117, 124–131). With training, the spinal cord is capable of learning a variety of motor tasks, including Pavlovian associations (132–136), instrumental learning (129, 131, 137–141) and stepping on a treadmill (124, 125, 142–146). This capacity for use-dependent plasticity in the spinal cord has been shown to rely upon propriospinal tract relays (124) and glutamate receptor-mediated plasticity in the lumbar cord (147, 148).…”

Section: One Traumatic Event Multiple Interrelated Biological Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Syndromics: A Bioinformatics Approach for Neurotrauma Research

Ferguson

Stück

Nielson

2011

Transl. Stroke Res.

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Substantial scientific progress has been made in the past 50 years in delineating many of the biological mechanisms involved in the primary and secondary injuries following trauma to the spinal cord and brain. These advances have highlighted numerous potential therapeutic approaches that may help restore function after injury. Despite these advances, bench-to-bedside translation has remained elusive. Translational testing of novel therapies requires standardized measures of function for comparison across different laboratories, paradigms, and species. Although numerous functional assessments have been developed in animal models, it remains unclear how to best integrate this information to describe the complete translational “syndrome” produced by neurotrauma. The present paper describes a multivariate statistical framework for integrating diverse neurotrauma data and reviews the few papers to date that have taken an information-intensive approach for basic neurotrauma research. We argue that these papers can be described as the seminal works of a new field that we call “syndromics”, which aim to apply informatics tools to disease models to characterize the full set of mechanistic inter-relationships from multi-scale data. In the future, centralized databases of raw neurotrauma data will enable better syndromic approaches and aid future translational research, leading to more efficient testing regimens and more clinically relevant findings.

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Pavlovian and Instrumental Conditioning Within the Spinal Cord: Methodological Issues

Grau

Joynes

2001

Spinal Cord Plasticity

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Learning of Leg Position in Chronic Spinal Rats

Cited by 31 publications

References 13 publications

Central nociceptive sensitization vs. spinal cord training: opposing forms of plasticity that dictate function after complete spinal cord injury

Central nociceptive sensitization vs. spinal cord training: opposing forms of plasticity that dictate function after complete spinal cord injury

Syndromics: A Bioinformatics Approach for Neurotrauma Research

Pavlovian and Instrumental Conditioning Within the Spinal Cord: Methodological Issues

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