title: Rapid functional reorganization of the forelimb cortical representation after thoracic spinal cord injury in adult rats.
abstract: Thoracic spinal cord injured rats rely largely on forelimbs to walk, as their hindlimbs are dysfunctional. This increased limb use is accompanied by expansion of the cortical forelimb sensory representation. It is unclear how quickly the representational changes occur and whether they are at all related to the behavioral adaptation. Using blood oxygenation level dependent functional mangetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) we show that major plastic changes of the somato-sensory map can occur as early as one day after injury. The extent of map increase was variable between animals, and some animals showed a reduction in map size. However, at three or seven days after injury a significant enhancement of the forelimb representation was evident in all the animals. In a behavioral test for precise limb control, crossing of a horizontal ladder, the injured rats relied almost entirely on their forelimbs; they initially made more mistakes than at 7 days post injury. Remarkably, in the individual animals the behavioral performance seen at seven days was proportional to the physiological change present at one day after injury. The rapid increase in cortical representation of the injury-spared body part may provide the additional neural substrate necessary for high level behavioral adaptation.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich, Switzerland; ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sydekum
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Center for Neuroscience Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK; ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: arko@ini.phys.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Arko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich, Switzerland; ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gullo
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich, Switzerland; ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baltes
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich, Switzerland; ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Center for Neuroscience Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, Switzerland; ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: rudin@biomed.ee.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rudin
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005552:Forelimb / Q000294:innervation*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors