Locomotion induced by spinal cord stimulation in the neonate rat in vitro

Abstract

The present studies employed the neonate rat brain stem-spinal cord preparation to determine whether electrical stimulation of the lumbosacral enlargement (LE) of the spinal cord itself can be used to elicit locomotion, and whether or not such stimulation persists in inducing locomotion following midthoracic spinal cord transection or hindlimb deafferentation. Results suggest that (1) stimulation of the dorsal columns or ventral funiculus of the LE is effective in inducing airstepping in the neonatal rat brain stem-spinal cord limb-attached preparation; (2) central disconnection by midthoracic spinal cord transection does not alter LE-stimulation-induced airstepping and may lead to an increase in stepping frequency if suprathreshold stimulation is used; and (3) dorsal root section also leads to an increase in the frequency of suprathreshold LE-stimulation-induced locomotion, but there is not further increase in frequency if a spinal cord transection is performed in addition to dorsal rhizotomy.