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Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy
New appreciation of the adaptive capabilities of the nervous system, recent recognition that most spinal cord injuries are incomplete, and progress in enabling regeneration are generating growing interest in novel rehabilitation therapies. Here we review the 35-year evolution of one promising new ap...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957063/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24672441 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2014.00025 |
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author | Thompson, Aiko K. Wolpaw, Jonathan R. |
author_facet | Thompson, Aiko K. Wolpaw, Jonathan R. |
author_sort | Thompson, Aiko K. |
collection | PubMed |
description | New appreciation of the adaptive capabilities of the nervous system, recent recognition that most spinal cord injuries are incomplete, and progress in enabling regeneration are generating growing interest in novel rehabilitation therapies. Here we review the 35-year evolution of one promising new approach, operant conditioning of spinal reflexes. This work began in the late 1970’s as basic science; its purpose was to develop and exploit a uniquely accessible model for studying the acquisition and maintenance of a simple behavior in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). The model was developed first in monkeys and then in rats, mice, and humans. Studies with it showed that the ostensibly simple behavior (i.e., a larger or smaller reflex) rests on a complex hierarchy of brain and spinal cord plasticity; and current investigations are delineating this plasticity and its interactions with the plasticity that supports other behaviors. In the last decade, the possible therapeutic uses of reflex conditioning have come under study, first in rats and then in humans. The initial results are very exciting, and they are spurring further studies. At the same time, the original basic science purpose and the new clinical purpose are enabling and illuminating each other in unexpected ways. The long course and current state of this work illustrate the practical importance of basic research and the valuable synergy that can develop between basic science questions and clinical needs. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3957063 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-39570632014-03-26 Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy Thompson, Aiko K. Wolpaw, Jonathan R. Front Integr Neurosci Neuroscience New appreciation of the adaptive capabilities of the nervous system, recent recognition that most spinal cord injuries are incomplete, and progress in enabling regeneration are generating growing interest in novel rehabilitation therapies. Here we review the 35-year evolution of one promising new approach, operant conditioning of spinal reflexes. This work began in the late 1970’s as basic science; its purpose was to develop and exploit a uniquely accessible model for studying the acquisition and maintenance of a simple behavior in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). The model was developed first in monkeys and then in rats, mice, and humans. Studies with it showed that the ostensibly simple behavior (i.e., a larger or smaller reflex) rests on a complex hierarchy of brain and spinal cord plasticity; and current investigations are delineating this plasticity and its interactions with the plasticity that supports other behaviors. In the last decade, the possible therapeutic uses of reflex conditioning have come under study, first in rats and then in humans. The initial results are very exciting, and they are spurring further studies. At the same time, the original basic science purpose and the new clinical purpose are enabling and illuminating each other in unexpected ways. The long course and current state of this work illustrate the practical importance of basic research and the valuable synergy that can develop between basic science questions and clinical needs. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-03-18 /pmc/articles/PMC3957063/ /pubmed/24672441 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2014.00025 Text en Copyright © 2014 Thompson and Wolpaw. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Neuroscience Thompson, Aiko K. Wolpaw, Jonathan R. Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy |
title | Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy |
title_full | Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy |
title_fullStr | Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy |
title_full_unstemmed | Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy |
title_short | Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy |
title_sort | operant conditioning of spinal reflexes: from basic science to clinical therapy |
topic | Neuroscience |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957063/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24672441 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2014.00025 |
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