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J Neurophysiol (March 30, 2005). doi:10.1152/jn.00082.2005
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Submitted on January 24, 2005
Accepted on March 1, 2005

Reduction of common synaptic drive to ankle dorsiflexor motoneurones during walking in patients with spinal cord lesion

Naja L. Hansen1, Bernard A. Conway1, David M. Halliday1, Simon Hansen1, Henrik S. Pyndt1, F. Biering-Sorensen1, and Jens B. Nielsen1*

1 1. Department of Physical Exercise and Sport Science & Division of Neurophysiology, Department of Medical Physiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: j.b.nielsen{at}mfi.ku.dk.

It is possible to obtain information about the synaptic drive to motoneurones during walking by analysing motor unit coupling in the time and frequency domains. The purpose of the present study was to compare motor unit coupling during walking in healthy subjects and patients with incomplete spinal cord lesion in order to obtain evidence of differences in the motoneuronal drive that result from the lesion. Such information is of importance for development of new strategies for gait restoration. 20 patients with incomplete spinal cord lesion (SCL), participated in the study. Control experiments were performed in 11 healthy subjects. In all healthy subjects short term synchronization was evident in the discharge of Tibialis Anterior (TA) motor units during the swing phase of treadmill walking. This was identified from the presence of a narrow central peak in cumulant densities constructed from paired EMG recordings and from the presence of significant coherence between these signals in the 10-20 Hz band. Such indicators of short-term synchrony were either absent or very small in the patient group. The relationship between the amount of short-term synchrony and the magnitude of the 10-20 Hz coherence in the patients is discussed in relation to gait ability. It is suggested that supraspinal drive to the spinal motoneurones is responsible for short-term synchrony and coherence in the 10-20 Hz frequency band during walking in healthy subjects. Absence or reduction of these features may serve as physiological markers of impaired supraspinal control of gait in SCL patients. Such markers could have diagnostic and prognostic value in relation to the recovery of locomotion in patients with central motor lesions.




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