Journal article
Modular organization of locomotor networks in people with severe spinal cord injury
Frontiers in neuroscience, v 16, pp 1041015-1041015
07 Dec 2022
PMID: 36570830
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
IntroductionPrevious studies support modular organization of locomotor circuitry contributing to the activation of muscles in a spatially and temporally organized manner during locomotion. Human spinal circuitry may reorganize after spinal cord injury; however, it is unclear if reorganization of spinal circuitry post-injury affects the modular organization. Here we characterize the modular synergy organization of locomotor muscle activity expressed during assisted stepping in subjects with complete and incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) of varying chronicity, before any explicit training regimen. We also investigated whether the synergy characteristics changed in two subjects who achieved independent walking after training with spinal cord epidural stimulation. MethodsTo capture synergy structures during stepping, individuals with SCI were stepped on a body-weight supported treadmill with manual facilitation, while electromyography (EMGs) were recorded from bilateral leg muscles. EMGs were analyzed using non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) and independent component analysis (ICA) to identify synergy patterns. Synergy patterns from the SCI subjects were compared across different clinical characteristics and to non-disabled subjects (NDs). ResultsResults for both NMF and ICA indicated that the subjects with SCI were similar among themselves, but expressed a greater variability in the number of synergies for criterion variance capture compared to NDs, and weaker correlation to NDs. ICA yielded a greater number of muscle synergies than NMF. Further, the clinical characteristics of SCI subjects and chronicity did not predict any significant differences in the spatial synergy structures despite any neuroplastic changes. Further, post-training synergies did not become closer to ND synergies in two individuals. DiscussionThese findings suggest fundamental differences between motor modules expressed in SCIs and NDs, as well as a striking level of spatial and temporal synergy stability in motor modules in the SCI population, absent the application of specific interventions.
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Details
- Title
- Modular organization of locomotor networks in people with severe spinal cord injury
- Creators
- Soo Yeon Sun - Alvernia UniversitySimon F. Giszter - Drexel UniversitySusan J. Harkema - University of LouisvilleClaudia A. Angeli - University of Louisville
- Publication Details
- Frontiers in neuroscience, v 16, pp 1041015-1041015
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media Sa
- Number of pages
- 19
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Neurobiology and Anatomy; College of Medicine; Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000899322300001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85144251099
- Other Identifier
- 991020100212004721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Neurosciences