Effect of lesion size on functional recovery for finger movements from spinal cord injury

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K17717
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 59010:Rehabilitation science-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Yamaguchi Reona 京都大学, 高等研究院, 特定助教 (50812640)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 脊髄損傷 / 機能回復 / サル / ECoG

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We previously showed that dexterous hand movements recovered in 1-3 months after the spinal cord injury limited to the lateral corticospinal tract in the dorsolateral funiculus (DLF) at the C4/C5 cervical segments in macaque monkeys. In this study, we longitudinally monitored the cortical activity during the reach and grasp task before and after the sub-hemisection, larger lesion than our previous model. The monkey started coarse power grasping after Day 32 post-injury. But the precision grip did not fully recover. The cortical electrical stimulation through each ECoG electrode (at 3 mA, 3 shocks at 20 Hz) was tested. Muscle twitch responses to stimulation of contralesional premotor and primary motor cortices gradually spread from the proximal to distal muscles including digits almost simultaneously as the monkey started grasping. These results suggested that global disinhibition in the cortical networks might be related to the recovery from spinal cord injury.

Free Research Field

リハビリテーション科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、脊髄損傷後の機能回復に関わる脳機能を調査した。損傷後には、脳の広範な領域で脱抑制が生じることが明らかになった。本研究の成果は、機能回復を導く運動学習機構の理解と、リハビリテーションの効果の評価・運動補助ロボットの開発・新たな治療法の創出につながるものと期待される。