![]() ![]() ![]() While these synergies exist in normal subjects, they are numerous and varied. For instance, knee extensors and hip abductors activate at the same time to provide body support during stance. Even in normal individuals, synergies in muscle activations during locomotion are common. įollowing stroke, the overarching control system for gait is simplified. Additionally, neural control of muscle in an isolated, voluntary, movement is significantly different than movement during gait. However, dynamic muscle strength (for instance, time to maximal contraction) may rely on neural control, not solely muscle strength. While one might expect aberrant neural control to dominate locomotor impairments following iSCI, data in humans has suggested that timing of voluntary initiation of ankle movement (control) is unaltered and loss of muscle strength (specifically dynamic muscle strength) may be responsible for maladaptive changes in ankle gait patterns. As spinal cord injury related muscular and neural impairments affect the legs, locomotion is often used as a measure of impairment and recovery.īoth musculoskeletal and nervous system impairments may contribute to the behavioral impairments seen following incomplete SCI (iSCI). These effects on muscle properties have been well studied in humans and other animals for a variety of disuse paradigms including weightlessness, bed rest, stroke, partial body support and constrained limbs. For example, the muscles tend to atrophy and muscle fibers shift towards faster twitch, more fatigueable ones. Along with these neural changes, the muscles in the distal limb undergo changes similar to those seen in many disuse paradigms. This leads to adaptations in the neurons of the brain and spinal cord as well as changes to the sensory afferents and motoneurons. As a result of spinal cord injury, the connections between the brain and the spinal circuitry below the injury are disrupted. In order to target and quantify the overall pattern of changes in locomotion (particularly the results of decrease in supraspinal control), we assessed 3D locomotor kinematics and kinematic complexity in rats following mild-moderate incomplete thoracic spinal contusion. ![]()
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