Author: Ronaldo M Ichiyama - Professor of Neural Control of Movement - School of Biomedical Science, University of Leeds - Chair and Director of the Leeds Centre for Spinal Cord Injuries Research
When: June, 2nd - 12PM (coffee at 11.30AM)
Where: Salón de Actos, ICMM
Abstract: Locomotor training and other physiotherapy interventions following spinal cord injuries (SCI) induces changes in the spinal networks controlling stepping, which correlate with improved stepping ability and function. The underlying mechanisms associated with such functional improvements are only sparsely known. Understanding such changes will lead to better and more efficient interventions to maximize the benefits of training for rehabilitative purposes. Such interventions are less effective in severe injuries and we have demonstrated that application of epidural electrical stimulation (EES) results in significant recovery of locomotor function. However, functional recovery afforded by EES and rehabilitation are incomplete and do not lead to neural regeneration.
Treatment of SCI will require a combination of several interventions to achieve physiological and functional regeneration and recovery. We will also discuss the results of several of our studies combining plasticity enhancing strategies with locomotor training after SCI. We have combined anti-Nogo-A antibody, Chondroitinase ABC, mesenchymal cells secretome, etc., with EES and locomotor training resulting in both reorganization of neural circuits and significant recovery of both motor and autonomic functions.
Supported by International Spinal Research Trust, Medical Research Council, Wings for Life, Royal Society, International Foundation for Paraplegia, the Niall Foundation.
