Nerve root magnetic stimulation improves locomotor function following spinal cord injury with electrophysiological improvements and cortical synaptic reconstruction.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Zheng, Ya Zhao, Dan Xue, Dong-Dong Mao, Ye-Ran Cao, Ling-Yun Zhang, Ye Zhu, Guang-Yue Yang, Qi Xu, Dong-Sheng
Copyright Year	2022
Abstract	Following a spinal cord injury, there are usually a number of neural pathways that remain intact in the spinal cord. These residual nerve fibers are important, as they could be used to reconstruct the neural circuits that enable motor function. Our group previously designed a novel magnetic stimulation protocol, targeting the motor cortex and the spinal nerve roots, that led to significant improvements in locomotor function in patients with a chronic incomplete spinal cord injury. Here, we investigated how nerve root magnetic stimulation contributes to improved locomotor function using a rat model of spinal cord injury. Rats underwent surgery to clamp the spinal cord at T10; three days later, the rats were treated with repetitive magnetic stimulation (5 Hz, 25 pulses/train, 20 pulse trains) targeting the nerve roots at the L5–L6 vertebrae. The treatment was repeated five times a week over a period of three weeks. We found that the nerve root magnetic stimulation improved the locomotor function and enhanced nerve conduction in the injured spinal cord. In addition, the nerve root magnetic stimulation promoted the recovery of synaptic ultrastructure in the sensorimotor cortex. Overall, the results suggest that nerve root magnetic stimulation may be an effective, noninvasive method for mobilizing the residual spinal cord pathways to promote the recovery of locomotor function.
ISSN	16735374
Volume Number	17
PubMed Central reference number	PMC8848603
Issue Number	9
PubMed reference number	35142694
Journal	Neural Regeneration Research [Neural Regen Res]
e-ISSN	18767958
DOI	10.4103/1673-5374.335161
Language	English
Publisher	Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
Publisher Date	2022-09-01
Publisher Place	India
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. Copyright: © Neural Regeneration Research
Subject Keyword	evoked potentials H-reflex motor activity nerve conduction neural plasticity rehabilitation sensorimotor cortex spinal cord injury synapses transcranial magnetic stimulation
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Developmental Neuroscience Neuroscience