Extensive spontaneous plasticity of corticospinal projections after primate spinal cord injury

• DOI: 10.1038/nn.2691
• Publication Date: 2010-11-14T19:33:57Z
• Authors: Ephron S Rosenzweig; Gregoire Courtine; Devin L Jindrich; John H Brock; Adam R Ferguson; Sarah C Strand; Yvette S Nout; Roland R Roy; Darren M Miller; Michael S Beattie; Leif A Havton; Jacqueline C Bres...; V Reggie Edgerton; Mark H Tuszynski
• Keywords: Male; Recruitment, Neurophysiological; 0301 basic medicine; 570; Physical Injury - Accidents and Adverse Effects; Clinical Sciences; Pyramidal Tracts; 610; Neurodegenerative; Motor Activity; Regenerative Medicine; Article; 03 medical and health sciences; Neurophysiological; Psychology; Animals; Spinal Cord Injury; Traumatic Head and Spine Injury; Spinal Cord Injuries; Neurology & Neurosurgery; Neuronal Plasticity; Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; Electromyography; Neurosciences; Macaca mulatta; Biological psychology; Cognitive Sciences; Female; Recruitment

Although axonal regeneration after CNS injury is limited, partial injury is frequently accompanied by extensive functional recovery. To investigate mechanisms underlying spontaneous recovery after incomplete spinal cord injury, we administered C7 spinal cord hemisections to adult rhesus monkeys and analyzed behavioral, electrophysiological and anatomical adaptations. We found marked spontaneous plasticity of corticospinal projections, with reconstitution of fully 60% of pre-lesion axon density arising from sprouting of spinal cord midline-crossing axons. This extensive anatomical recovery was associated with improvement in coordinated muscle recruitment, hand function and locomotion. These findings identify what may be the most extensive natural recovery of mammalian axonal projections after nervous system injury observed to date, highlighting an important role for primate models in translational disease research.