New research demonstrates that the spinal cord can independently learn and remember movements, challenging traditional views of its role and potentially enhancing rehabilitation strategies for spinal injury patients.
The spinal cord is often described as merely a conduit for transmitting signals between the brain and the body. However, the spinal cord can actually learn and remember movements on its own. One such neuroscientist is Professor Aya Takeoka. Her team at Neuro-Electronics Research Flanders studies how the spinal cord recovers from injuries by exploring how the nerve connections are wired, and how they function and change when we learn new movements.
Part of the problem is the difficulty in directly measuring the activity of individual neurons in the spinal cord in animals that are not sedated but awake and moving. Takeoka’s team took advantage of a model in which animals train specific movements within minutes. In doing so, the team uncovered a cell type-specific mechanism of spinal cord learning.
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