Corticospinal tract (CST) injury deprives spinal circuits of movement control signals. This leads to loss of function?muscle weakness and paralysis?and gain of dysfunction?including hyperreflexia and spasticity. To repair the CST after injury and restore motor control, it is necessary to abrogate the impairments due to both the loss of function and gain of dysfunction following injury. Our research during the prior funding period shows that activity-dependent processes underlie both the loss of function and gain of dysfunction after CST injury. This finding provides the foundation for developing new therapeutic neuromodulatory approaches to target activity dependence using motor cortex (MCX) stimulation and transspinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS). MCX stimulation after injury is effective in CST repair and motor recovery.
In Aim 1 we will determine the most effective MCX neuromodulation treatment to produce persistent structural and functional plasticity of the corticospinal system. Using different stimulation patterns, we will ask if efficacy depends on recruiting CST axon growth-promoting signaling. Using optogenetics to identify activated CST axons, we will test how stimulation patterns determine anatomical and physiological outcomes. Knowing that recovery is more than CST sprouting, we will ask if efficacy depends on producing long-term physiological changes in spinal circuits. We recently showed that selective CST injury or MCX inactivation produces trans-neuronal loss of spinal cholinergic interneurons and that this loss can be rescued by spinal activation.
In Aim 2 we will determine how MCX neuromodulation regulates transneuronal segmental circuit remodeling after injury to promote spinal circuit repair. We will ask how CST injury impacts the major class of excitatory premotor interneurons of the CST. We will test if MCX stimulation ameliorates trans-neuronal circuit changes and then examine the interplay of repair strategies differentially targeting microglial-based spinal circuit remodeling and CST sprouting In Aim 3 we will harness the differential actions of tsDCS on spinal circuits to enhance repair and rehabilitation efficacy after cervical SCI. Spinal circuits integrate motor control signals with afferent information. After SCI, with the loss of motor pathways, spared afferent feedback dominates segmental circuit function. We recently showed that afferent competition diminishes CST connection strength, to reinforce afferent over integrated control. We will use the differential actions of tsDCS to promote spared CST function and weaken potentially ?runaway? afferent input, to rebalance segmental control. We will develop a novel strategy that combines neuromodulation-based repair with neuromodulation-assisted rehabilitation to promote recovery. Successful completion of our studies will advance our understanding of the mechanisms of impairment and the mechanisms underlying novel neuromodulatory repair strategies after SCI. Results will inform how best to integrate motor behavioral rehabilitation and activity-based interventions to provide potentially clinically relevant approaches to improve motor control in humans after cervical SCI.

Public Health Relevance

The loss of upper limb and hand function in people after cervical spinal injury is largely attributable to corticospinal system damage. We will study novel mechanisms underlying impairments after injury and how electrical neuromodulation-based therapies, alone and in combination with rehabilitation, can be used to repair the damage and improve motor function after cervical injury.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01NS064004-12
Application #
9964925
Study Section
Clinical Neuroplasticity and Neurotransmitters Study Section (CNNT)
Program Officer
Bambrick, Linda Louise
Project Start
2009-05-19
Project End
2024-05-31
Budget Start
2020-06-01
Budget End
2021-05-31
Support Year
12
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
City College of New York
Department
Physiology
Type
Sch Allied Health Professions
DUNS #
603503991
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10036
Zareen, Neela; Dodson, Shahid; Armada, Kristine et al. (2018) Stimulation-dependent remodeling of the corticospinal tract requires reactivation of growth-promoting developmental signaling pathways. Exp Neurol 307:133-144
Jiang, Yu-Qiu; Sarkar, Adrish; Amer, Alzahraa et al. (2018) Transneuronal Downregulation of the Premotor Cholinergic System After Corticospinal Tract Loss. J Neurosci 38:8329-8344
Song, Weiguo; Martin, John H (2017) Spinal cord direct current stimulation differentially modulates neuronal activity in the dorsal and ventral spinal cord. J Neurophysiol 117:1143-1155
Williams, Preston T J A; Jiang, Yu-Qiu; Martin, John H (2017) Motor system plasticity after unilateral injury in the developing brain. Dev Med Child Neurol 59:1224-1229
Zareen, N; Shinozaki, M; Ryan, D et al. (2017) Motor cortex and spinal cord neuromodulation promote corticospinal tract axonal outgrowth and motor recovery after cervical contusion spinal cord injury. Exp Neurol 297:179-189
Song, Weiguo; Amer, Alzahraa; Ryan, Daniel et al. (2016) Combined motor cortex and spinal cord neuromodulation promotes corticospinal system functional and structural plasticity and motor function after injury. Exp Neurol 277:46-57
Martin, John H (2016) Harnessing neural activity to promote repair of the damaged corticospinal system after spinal cord injury. Neural Regen Res 11:1389-1391
Jiang, Yu-Qiu; Zaaimi, Boubker; Martin, John H (2016) Competition with Primary Sensory Afferents Drives Remodeling of Corticospinal Axons in Mature Spinal Motor Circuits. J Neurosci 36:193-203
Song, Weiguo; Truong, Dennis Q; Bikson, Marom et al. (2015) Transspinal direct current stimulation immediately modifies motor cortex sensorimotor maps. J Neurophysiol 113:2801-11
Lemmon, Vance P; Ferguson, Adam R; Popovich, Phillip G et al. (2014) Minimum information about a spinal cord injury experiment: a proposed reporting standard for spinal cord injury experiments. J Neurotrauma 31:1354-61

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