Sensory Circuit Remodeling and Movement Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury

Frontiers in Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnins.2021.787690 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Yunuen Moreno-López ◽

Edmund R. Hollis

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Motor Cortex ◽

Functional Plasticity ◽

Motor Pathways ◽

Corticocortical Connections ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Circuit Function

Restoring sensory circuit function after spinal cord injury (SCI) is essential for recovery of movement, yet current interventions predominantly target motor pathways. Integrated cortical sensorimotor networks, disrupted by SCI, are critical for perceiving, shaping, and executing movement. Corticocortical connections between primary sensory (S1) and motor (M1) cortices are critical loci of functional plasticity in response to learning and injury. Following SCI, in the motor cortex, corticocortical circuits undergo dynamic remodeling; however, it remains unknown how rehabilitation shapes the plasticity of S1-M1 networks or how these changes may impact recovery of movement.

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Anatomical Changes in Human Motor Cortex and Motor Pathways following Complete Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhn072 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 224-232 ◽

Cited By ~ 136

Author(s):

P.J. Wrigley ◽

S.M. Gustin ◽

P.M. Macey ◽

P.G. Nash ◽

S.C. Gandevia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Motor Cortex ◽

Thoracic Spinal Cord ◽

Human Motor Cortex ◽

Motor Pathways ◽

Anatomical Changes ◽

Thoracic Spinal ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Human Motor

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Exercise Ameliorates Spinal Cord Injury by Changing DNA Methylation

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells10010143 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 143

Author(s):

Ganchimeg Davaa ◽

Jin Young Hong ◽

Tae Uk Kim ◽

Seong Jae Lee ◽

Seo Young Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Motor Cortex ◽

Functional Recovery ◽

Treadmill Exercise ◽

Exercise Group ◽

Control Group ◽

Epigenetic Changes ◽

Cord Injury ◽

The Brain

Exercise training is a traditional method to maximize remaining function in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), but the exact mechanism by which exercise promotes recovery after SCI has not been identified; whether exercise truly has a beneficial effect on SCI also remains unclear. Previously, we showed that epigenetic changes in the brain motor cortex occur after SCI and that a treatment leading to epigenetic modulation effectively promotes functional recovery after SCI. We aimed to determine how exercise induces functional improvement in rats subjected to SCI and whether epigenetic changes are engaged in the effects of exercise. A spinal cord contusion model was established in rats, which were then subjected to treadmill exercise for 12 weeks. We found that the size of the lesion cavity and the number of macrophages were decreased more in the exercise group than in the control group after 12 weeks of injury. Immunofluorescence and DNA dot blot analysis revealed that levels of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in the brain motor cortex were increased after exercise. Accordingly, the expression of ten-eleven translocation (Tet) family members (Tet1, Tet2, and Tet3) in the brain motor cortex also elevated. However, no macrophage polarization was induced by exercise. Locomotor function, including Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) and ladder scores, also improved in the exercise group compared to the control group. We concluded that treadmill exercise facilitates functional recovery in rats with SCI, and mechanistically epigenetic changes in the brain motor cortex may contribute to exercise-induced improvements.

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