This proposal is for Motion Analysis equipment that will allow us to analyze the movements of animals recovering from spinal cord injury and the movements of neurons developing in tissue culture. The motion analysis system we are requesting will serve three existing research programs in our department: 1) the first concerns the nature of recovery of motor function in adult cats with spinal cord injury; we propose to use a kinematic analysis of postural reflexes, reflex locomotion and goal-directed conditioned locomotion in order to characterize quantitatively the motor patterns used by animals with spinal cord injury and determine if they are similar to normal patterns or if the animals substitute abnormal patterns 2) the second program concerns the use of embrionic tissue transplants to enhance recovery of motor function; we propose to use a quantitative kinematic analysis to compare the extent of recovery of motor function in cats with neonatal spinal injury (complete transection with and without the addition of embrionic transplant in the lesion site 3) the third program is devoted to a quantitative analysis of the growth of limbic system neurites in culture with time-lapse video microscopy; we propose to determine if specific phases of outgrowth and branching of neurites are associated with the expression of growth-related surface antigen: Limbic System Associated Protein (LAMP) which is found almost exclusively on system nuclear groups. The first program is an extension of Dr. Michael Goldberger's research; the second, Dr. Alan Tessler's and the third, Dr. Pat Levitt's. All three currently receive PHS funding. The Motion Analysis System we are requesting is required to carry out the analyses we propose to undertake and, in particular, is essential for obtaining quantitative data. The system we are requesting has the capability of carrying out kinematic analysis of motor behavior and movement of neurites in tissue culture.
