Quantifying changes following spinal cord injury with velocity dependent locomotor measures.

ABSTRACT: Many locomotor measures commonly used to assess functional deficits following neurological injury are velocity dependent. This makes the comparison of faster pre-injury walking to slower post-injury walking a challenging process. In lieu of calculating mean values at specific velocities, we have employed the use of nonlinear regression techniques to quantify locomotor measures across all velocities. This enables us to assess more accurately the locomotor recovery of rats after a cervical spinal cord injury. For example, while the mean stride length of the hindlimbs decreased following injury, regression analysis revealed that the change was due to the reduction in walking speed and not a functional deficit. A significant difference in the percent of the right forelimb step cycle that was s

SUBMITTER: Neckel ND 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3628740 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature