The Simplest Motor Skill: Mechanisms and Applications of Reflex Operant Conditioning

摘要

Operant conditioning protocols can gradually change spinal reflexes, which are the simplest behaviors. This article summarizes the evidence supporting two propositions: that these protocols provide excellent models for defining the substrates of learning; and that they can induce and guide plasticity to help restore skills such as locomotion that have been impaired by spinal cord injury or other disorders.