This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a major medical problem in the U.S. Over 11,000 new patients suffer and survive a new SCI each year(1), with U.S. prevalence of nearly a quarter million persons. SCI is compounded by numerous secondary medical problems. The lifetime cost in dollars varies with the age at SCI but exceeds 1-2 million dollars for most quadriplegics.In approximately half of all patients with SCI, the injury is said to be complete, meaning that none of the motor or sensory function below the level of SCI is controlled by the brain, instead arising solely from reflex or localized spinal cord events. In the other half of patients, injury is incomplete, meaning a fraction of the normal brain control of sub-lesional spinal cord events remains.Several lines of evidence suggest that, after SCI, behavioral deficits are often more severe than would be predicted from measures of anatomical injury. If true, this suggests the potential to improve motor status in the setting of a fixed lesion, even when deficits are severe.
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