NIH R01 · 2024
Paired Brain and Spinal Cord Stimulation to Strengthen Spinal Sensorimotor Circuits
SUMMARY Experience leads to behavioral change through the associated activity of neural circuits. Using this principle, paired stimulation has been used to selectively strengthen circuits, targeting either the relatively sparse connections between motor cortex and motoneurons or sensory and motor connections in cortex. In contrast, we propose to target the spinal cord through the strong interaction of descending motor connections and large diameter afferents, which mediate the senses of joint position and muscle tension. In rats, sub- threshold spinal cord stimulation, which activates afferents, strongly augments motor cortex evoked muscle responses when timed to converge in the spinal…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.