Functional plasticity of glutamatergic neurons of medullary reticular nuclei after spinal cord injury in mice.

ABSTRACT: Spinal cord injury disrupts the descending command from the brain and causes a range of motor deficits. Here, we use optogenetic tools to investigate the functional plasticity of the glutamatergic reticulospinal drive of the medullary reticular formation after a lateral thoracic hemisection in female mice. Sites evoking stronger excitatory descending drive in intact conditions are the most impaired after injury, whereas those associated with a weaker drive are potentiated. After lesion, pro- and anti-locomotor activities (that is, initiation/acceleration versus stop/deceleration) are overall preserved. Activating the descending reticulospinal drive improves stepping ability on a flat surface of chronically impaired injured mice, and its priming enhances recovery of skilled locomotion on a

SUBMITTER: Lemieux M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10879492 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature