Although spinal reflexes are highly modulated during normal behaviour (Zehr & Stein, 1999) and can be modified with training in adult, spinal mammals (Chen et al. 1999), the spinal cord has often been viewed as a relatively fixed and less interesting part of the nervous system. This view was challenged by work showing that quite normal walking patterns could be produced after treadmill training in adult animals with a complete transection at the thoracic level (reviewed by Rossignol et al. 2006). Without training animals did not regain the ability to walk. Thus, the spinal central pattern generator (CPG) for walking, which is normally controlled by supraspinal inputs, can modify itself after spinal cord injury (SCI) and training to function independently of descending inputs. Furthermore, studies from many centres have translated this work to the clinic, although only people with an incomplete SCI show marked benefits from treadmill training (Wernig & Muller, 1992; Barbeau etal. 1999).
展开▼
