title: Comment on "Restoring voluntary control of locomotion after paralyzing spinal cord injury".
abstract: Van den Brand et al. (Reports, 1 June 2012, p. 1182) claim to have restored voluntary control of locomotion after paralyzing spinal cord injury. They have not considered recent findings that their upright posture paradigm contributes to locomotor capability after such injuries. We propose that postural adjustments that activate the locomotor central pattern generator in the upright posture, rather than direct voluntary control of locomotion, account for their results.
authors.affiliation: Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Department of Neurophysiology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sławińska
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rossignol
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frigon
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fouad
authors.forename: Larry M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Jordan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000502:physiology*; D008124:Locomotion; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D010243:Paralysis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000502:physiology*; D012371:Robotics; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*