Quantification of Locomotor Recovery following Spinal Cord Contusion in Adult Rats

Abstract

Injury to the spinal cord not only disrupts the functioning of spinal circuits at the site of the impact, but also limits sensorimotor function caudal to the level of the lesion. Ratings of gross locomotor skill are generally used to quantify locomotor recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI). The purpose of this study was to assess behavioral recovery following SCI with three tasks: (1) BBB ratings, (2) walking on a horizontal ladder, and (3) footprint analyses. Behavioral testing was conducted for 6 postoperative weeks, and then the spinal cords were processed for the amount of white matter spared. As expected, BBB ratings dramatically decreased and then improved during recovery. The number of hindlimb foot-faults on the horizontal ladder increased after injury and remained elevated during the recovery period. Footprint analyses revealed that sham-control rats used several different gaits to cross the runway. In contrast, the locomotor function of rats with a SCI was impaired throughout the postoperative period. Some locomotor parameters of the injured rats improved slightly (velocity, stride length, stride duration, stance duration), some did not change (interlimb coordination, swing duration, forelimb base of support, hindpaw angle), and others declined (hindlimb base of support) during the recovery period. Together, these results show that gross locomotor skill improved after SCI, while recovery of fine locomotor function was more limited. Multiple tests should be included in future experiments in order to assess gross and fine changes in sensorimotor function following SCI.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging at 3 Hours after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Predicts Long-Term Locomotor Recovery

“…Further investigations reported that spared white matter volume is the parameter correlating with functional outcome the most (McEwen and Springer, 2006;Schucht et al, 2002;You et al, 2003). This also holds true for mice of different genetic backgrounds (Hashimoto et al, 2007).…”

A comparison of two-dimensional and three-dimensional techniques for the determination of hindlimb kinematics during treadmill locomotion in rats following spinal cord injury

“…To our knowledge, no study has been conducted to provide a detailed description of the foot progression during the step cycle in normal and spinal injured rodents. Through foot print analysis the foot rotation angle has been extensively applied during overground walking after spinal cord lesions (McEwen and Springer, 2006;Metz et al, 2000b). However, a continuous presentation of the entire time plot of the foot rotation angle instead of a selected point of the stance phase of walking is critical for a detailed gait assessment.…”

Gait Analysis at Multiple Speeds Reveals Differential Functional and Structural Outcomes in Response to Graded Spinal Cord Injury

“…It greatly increases the number and complexity of experimental outcomes that can be simultaneously gathered and potentially minimizes investigator time and effort while increasing throughput in data gathering. Many approaches, including the use of contact electrodes, 3 robotic gait analysis devices, 4 and digital footprint analysis, 5 have been used to automate gait analysis to avoid potential observer bias or limitations. Video-based approaches, such as three-dimensional video analysis 8 and CatWalkÔ, [9][10][11][12] can improve the scope and details of data gathered, but as with BBB scoring, are limited to the gait speed at which the animal chooses to locomote.…”