Hodgson J A, Roy R R, de Leon R, Dobkin B, Edgerton V R
Department of Physiological Science, University of California at Los Angeles 90024-1527.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994 Dec;26(12):1491-7.
Progress toward restoring locomotor function in low thoracic spinal transected cats and the application of similar techniques to patients with spinal cord injury is reviewed. Complete spinal cord transection (T12-T13) in adult cats results in an immediate loss of locomotor function in the hindlimbs. Limited locomotor function returns after several months in cats that have not received specific therapies designed to restore hindlimb stepping. Training transected cats to step on a treadmill for 30 min.d-1 and 5 d.wk-1 greatly improves their stepping ability. The most successful outcome was in cats where training began early, i.e., 1 wk after spinal transection. Cats trained to stand instead of stepping had great difficulty using the hindlimbs for locomotion. These effects were reversible over a 20-month period such that cats unable to step as a result of standing training could be trained to step and, conversely, locomotion in stepping-trained cats could be abolished by standing training. These results indicate that the spinal cord is capable of learning specific motor tasks. It has not been possible to elicit locomotion in patients with clinically complete spinal injuries, but appropriately coordinated EMG activity has been demonstrated in musculature of the legs during assisted locomotion on a treadmill.
本文综述了在低位胸段脊髓横断猫恢复运动功能方面所取得的进展，以及将类似技术应用于脊髓损伤患者的情况。成年猫的完全脊髓横断（T12 - T13）会导致后肢运动功能立即丧失。在未接受旨在恢复后肢行走的特定治疗的猫中，有限的运动功能在数月后会恢复。训练横断猫在跑步机上每天行走30分钟，每周训练5天，可显著提高它们的行走能力。最成功的结果出现在脊髓横断后早期（即1周后）开始训练的猫身上。训练站立而非行走的猫在使用后肢进行运动时遇到很大困难。这些影响在20个月的时间内是可逆的，例如，因站立训练而无法行走的猫可以被训练行走，反之，经过行走训练的猫的运动可以通过站立训练而被消除。这些结果表明脊髓能够学习特定的运动任务。在临床上脊髓完全损伤的患者中尚未能够引发运动，但在跑步机辅助运动期间，已在腿部肌肉组织中证明了适当协调的肌电图活动。
