

Tuesday, March 26
Dr. Reggie Edgerton
Thompson 193

Recently, a number of advances have been made in the strategies used for rehabilitation after a spinal cord injury, resulting in marked improved recovery. Several rehabilitative interventions, that is, assisted motor training, spinal cord epidural stimulation, and/or administration of pharmacologic agents have produced remarkable recovery in motor function in both humans and animals. The success with each of these interventions appears to be related to the fact that the spinal cord is smart, in that it can use ensembles of sensory information to generate appropriate motor responses without input from supraspinal centers, a property commonly referred to as central pattern generation. This ability of the spinal cord reflects the ability of the neural circuitry of the spinal cord to interpret complex sensory information and to make appropriate decisions to generate successful postural and locomotor tasks.