Spinal Interneurons

Spinal Interneurons PDF

Author: Lyandysha Viktorovna Zholudeva

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2022-11-29

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 0128192615

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The spinal cord is comprised of four types of neurons: motor neurons, pre-ganglionic neurons, ascending projection neurons, and spinal interneurons. Interneurons are neurons that process information within local circuits, and have an incredible ability for neuroplasticity, whether due to persistent activity, neural injury, or in response to disease. Although, by definition, their axons are restricted to the same structure as the soma (in this case the spinal cord), spinal interneurons are capable of sprouting and rewiring entire neural circuits, and contribute to some restoration of disrupted neural communication after injury to the spinal cord (i.e., “bypassing the lesion site). Spinal Interneurons provides a focused overview of how scientists classify interneurons in general, the techniques used to identify subsets of interneurons, their roles in specific neural circuits, and the scientific evidence for their neuroplasticity. Understanding the capacity for neuroplasticity and identity of specific spinal interneurons that are optimal for recovery, may help determine cellular candidates for developing therapies. Spinal Interneurons provides neuroscientists, clinicians, and trainees a reference book exclusively concentrating on spinal interneurons, the techniques and experiments employed to identify and study these cells as part of normal and compromised neural circuits, and highlights the therapeutic potential of these cells by presenting the relevant pre-clinical and clinical work to date. People in industry will also benefit from this book, which compiles the latest in therapeutic strategies for targeting spinal interneurons, what considerations there are for the development and use of treatments, and how such treatments can not only be translated to the clinic, but how existing treatments should be appropriately reverse-translated to the bench. Comprehensive overview of techniques used to identify, characterize, and classify spinal interneurons and their role in neural circuits Description of the role that spinal interneurons play in mediating plasticity after compromise to spinal neural networks In-depth discussion of therapeutic potential of spinal interneurons for spinal cord injury and/or disease

Spinal Cord Plasticity

Spinal Cord Plasticity PDF

Author: Michael M. Patterson

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-06-28

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1461514371

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The area of spinal cord plasticity has become a very actively researched field. The spinal cord has long been known to organize reflex patterns and serve as the major transmission pathway for sensory and motor nerve impulses. However, the role of the spinal cord in information processing and in experience driven alterations is generally not recognized. With recent advances in neural recording techniques, behavioral technologies and neural tracing and imaging methods has come the ability to better assess the role of the spinal cord in behavioral control and alteration. The discoveries in recent years have been revolutionary. Alterations due to nociceptive inputs, simple learning paradigms and repetitive inputs have now been documented and their mechanisms are being elucidated. These findings have important clinical implications. The development of pathological pain after a spinal cord injury likely depends on the sensitization of neurons within the spinal cord. The capacity of the spinal cord to change as a function of experience, and adapt to new environmental relations, also affects the recovery locomotive function after a spinal cord injury. Mechanisms within the spinal cord can support stepping and the capacity for this behavior depends on behavioral training. By taking advantage of the plasticity inherent within the spinal cord, rehabilitative procedures may foster the recovery of function.

Textbook of Neural Repair and Rehabilitation

Textbook of Neural Repair and Rehabilitation PDF

Author: Michael E. Selzer

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 693

ISBN-13: 1107011671

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In two freestanding volumes, the Textbook of Neural Repair and Rehabilitation provides comprehensive coverage of the science and practice of neurological rehabilitation. Revised throughout, bringing the book fully up to date, this volume, Neural Repair and Plasticity, covers the basic sciences relevant to recovery of function following injury to the nervous system, reviewing anatomical and physiological plasticity in the normal central nervous system, mechanisms of neuronal death, axonal regeneration, stem cell biology, and research strategies targeted at axon regeneration and neuron replacement. New chapters have been added covering pathophysiology and plasticity in cerebral palsy, stem cell therapies for brain disorders and neurotrophin repair of spinal cord damage, along with numerous others. Edited and written by leading international authorities, it is an essential resource for neuroscientists and provides a foundation for the work of clinical rehabilitation professionals.

Neurological Rehabilitation

Neurological Rehabilitation PDF

Author: Audrey N. Kusiak

Publisher: Elsevier Inc. Chapters

Published: 2013-01-10

Total Pages: 680

ISBN-13: 0128077921

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Once thought to be rigidly wired, the spinal cord now is understood to display significant plastic properties, which are manifest as both physiological and structural alterations in response to changes in patterns of use, disuse, and damage. Activity-dependent increases in responsiveness of spinal cord circuits are now thought to underlie or contribute importantly to the hyperalgesia that often follows neurological injuries, the physical therapy-induced improvement in walking and running seen in patients with stroke and spinal cord injury, skill acquisition in normal children, and several other phenomena. Physiological mechanisms underlying spinal cord plasticity include denervation supersensitivity, long-term potentiation, long-term depression, and habituation. Anatomical plasticity seen in the spinal cord after partial injuries includes collateral sprouting of spared axons in response to injury of neighboring axons, and dendritic remodeling in response to loss of regionally segregated synaptic inputs. A form of neuroplasticity that is seen in the peripheral nerves and in the spinal cord of some cold-blooded animals, but not in the central nervous system of birds or mammals, is axon regeneration. It is often difficult to distinguish between regeneration of injured axons and collateral sprouting of neighboring uninjured axons, but the distinction could be very important, especially in the case of complete spinal cord injuries. Several instances of treatment-induced axonal changes that were originally thought to indicate regeneration have turned out to be collateral sprouting. There is reason to suspect that the molecular mechanisms that underlie these two phenomena are different, and, if so, therapeutic approaches to enhancing them may also prove to be very different.

Plasticity of primary afferent neurons and sensory processing after spinal cord injury

Plasticity of primary afferent neurons and sensory processing after spinal cord injury PDF

Author: Alexander Rabchevsky

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2015-01-05

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 2889193969

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Traumatic injury of the spinal cord affects the entire organism directly and indirectly. Primary injury destroys neurons and severs axons which participate in neural circuits. Secondary injuries and pathologies arise from numerous sources including systemic inflammation, consequential damage of cutaneous, muscular, and visceral tissues, and dysregulation of autonomic, endocrine and sensory- motor functions. Evidence is mounting that spinal cord injury (SCI) affects regions of the nervous system spatially remote from the injury site, as well as peripheral tissues, and alters some basic characteristics of primary afferent cell biology and physiology (cell number, size/frequency, electrophysiology, other). The degree of afferent input and processing above the lesion is generally intact, while that in the peri-lesion area is highly variable, though pathologies emerge in both regions, including a variety of pain syndromes. Primary afferent input to spinal regions below the injury and the processing of this information becomes even more important in the face of complete or partial loss of descending input because such spared sensory processing can lead to both adaptive and pathological outcomes. This issue hosts review and research articles considering mechanisms of plasticity of primary afferent neurons and sensory processing after SCI, and how such plasticity contributes to sparing and/or recovery of functions, as well as exacerbation of existing and/or emergent pathologies. A critical issue for the majority of the SCI community is chronic above-, peri-, and below-level neuropathic pain, much of which may arise, at least in part, from plasticity of afferent fibers and nociceptive circuitry. For example, autonomic dysreflexia is common hypertensive syndrome that often develops after SCI that is highly reliant on maladaptive nociceptive sensory input and processing below the lesion. Moreover, the loss of descending input leaves the reflexive components of bladder/bowel/sexual function uncoordinated and susceptible to a variety of effects through afferent fiber plasticity. Finally, proper afferent feedback is vital for the effectiveness of activity-dependent rehabilitative therapies, but aberrant nociceptive input may interfere with these approaches since they are often unchecked due to loss of descending modulation.

Autonomic Dysfunction After Spinal Cord Injury

Autonomic Dysfunction After Spinal Cord Injury PDF

Author: Lynne C. Weaver

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2005-10-11

Total Pages: 472

ISBN-13: 0080460100

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Autonomic dysfunction is a major and poorly understood consequence of spinal cord injury. It is a cause of very serious disability and requires much more research. It should be a focus of treatment strategies. This book will be of interest to anyone involved in research and treatment of spinal cord injury since it helps to explain the tremendously negative impact on the body caused by cord injury that is not as obvious as paralysis and loss of sensation. It contains a compilation of what is known about bladder, cardiovascular, bowel and sexual dysfunction after spinal cord injury, as it relates to the changes within the autonomic nervous system control of these functions. The book begins with a description of the time course of autonomic dysfunctions and their ramifications from the first hours after a spinal cord injury to the more stable chronic states. The next section contains three chapters that address anatomical findings that may provide some of the foundation for autonomic dysfunctions in many of the systems. The system-specific chapters then follow in four sections. Each section begins with a chapter or two defining the clinical problems experienced by people with cord injury. The following chapters present research, basic and clinical, that address the autonomic dysfunctions.

Synaptic Plasticity in Pain

Synaptic Plasticity in Pain PDF

Author: Marzia Malcangio

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2009-05-28

Total Pages: 500

ISBN-13: 1441902260

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Primary sensory neurons respond to peripheral stimulation and project to the spinal cord. Specifically, the population of neurons which respond to damaging stimuli terminate in the superficial layers of the dorsal horn. Therefore, the dorsal horns constitute the first relay site for nociceptive fibre terminals which make synaptic contacts with second order neurons. It has recently become clear that the strength of this first pain synapse is plastic and modifiable by several modulators, including neuronal and non-neuronal regulators, and studies on the fundamental processes regulating the plasticity of the first pain synapse have resulted in the identification of new targets for the treatment of chronic pain. This book will be of interest to a wide readership in the pain field.

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