Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2013

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Department

Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology

Committee Chair

Magnuson, David Stuart

Subject

Spinal cord--Wounds and injuries--Research

Abstract

Spontaneous recovery in rats after spinal cord injury (SCI), and interventions that improve or impede spontaneous recovery are not well understood. During a study to characterize recovery landmarks after SCI using telemetry EMG, we discovered loss of function in telemetry implanted animals. To investigate this difference further, we implanted animals with leads in various hindlimb muscles to look for behavioral and kinematic differences in recovery. We found significant differences in both open field locomotor testing (BBB) and kinematics between implant and non-implant groups where implanted groups showed loss of coordination, as well as trends for animals implanted below the knee to show even greater loss of function than animals implanted above the knee. From these findings, we concluded the cause of loss of function to originate either from mechanical interference in animals’ stepping; peripheral pain, inflammation, and unpatterned afferent input influencing post-injury, sensitized lumbar circuitry; or a combination.

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