title: Function of the nucleus accumbens in motor control during recovery after spinal cord injury.
abstract: Motivation facilitates recovery after neuronal damage, but its mechanism is elusive. It is generally thought that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) regulates motivation-driven effort but is not involved in the direct control of movement. Using causality analysis, we identified the flow of activity from the NAc to the sensorimotor cortex (SMC) during the recovery of dexterous finger movements after spinal cord injury at the cervical level in macaque monkeys. Furthermore, reversible pharmacological inactivation of the NAc during the early recovery period diminished high-frequency oscillatory activity in the SMC, which was accompanied by a transient deficit of amelioration in finger dexterity obtained by rehabilitation. These results demonstrate that during recovery after spinal damage, the NAc up-regulates the high-frequency activity of the SMC and is directly involved in the control of finger movements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan. Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawada
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan. Department of Physiological Sciences, School of Life Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama 240-0193, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kunieda
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo 060-8543, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mikuni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.affiliation: Division of Bio-Function Dynamics Imaging, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirotaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Onoe
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan. Department of Physiological Sciences, School of Life Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama 240-0193, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Isa
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan. Department of Physiological Sciences, School of Life Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama 240-0193, Japan. Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan. yukio@nips.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005385:Fingers / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D008251:Macaca; D009042:Motivation; D009048:Motor Skills; D009068:Movement; D009118:Muscimol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D066191:Sensorimotor Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists; D009118:Muscimol