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SUMMARY:Dissecting the compensatory mechanism after partial spinal cord in
 jury
DTSTART:20121126T171500
DTEND:20121126T181500
DTSTAMP:20260510T162458Z
UID:6c6925ab15c6dc63e242ce23d7321d1f6c2fe387d157c536863810b5
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Tadashi Isa\, M.D. & Ph.D.\, National Institute for Physiolo
 gical Sciences\, Okazaki\, JAPAN\nIt is generally accepted that the direct
  pathway from the motor cortex to the spinal motor neurons (direct cortico
 -motoneuronal (CM) connection) is the basis of fractionated digit movement
 s in higher primates. Such concept is largely derived from the evolution o
 f the CM pathway and finger dexterity\, and observation of hand movements 
 in non-human primates with pyramidotomy or patients with brain infarction.
  However\, in addition to the direct CM pathway\, there are several indire
 ct routes\, such as those mediated by reticulospinal neurons and spinal in
 terneurons. Especially\, when the corticospinal tract is lesioned at the l
 ower cervical level (C5)\, the fractionated finger movements were found to
  exhibit marked recovery in macaque monkeys. Applying various experimental
  techniques such as brain imaging and reversible inactivation to this anim
 al model\, we have studied the neural mechanism of functional recovery fol
 lowing the partial spinal cord injury. We found that propriospinal neurons
  (PNs) in the mid-cervical segments are responsible for the recovery at th
 e spinal level\, and different cortical regions are involved at different 
 recovery stages. Furthermore\, we also found that the ventral striatum mod
 ulates the recovery process through the cooperation with the motor cortex.
  On the other hand\, we assessed the normal function of the PNs by using a
  novel pathway-selective and reversible blocking with double virus vectors
  in intact non-human primates. This technique is expected to dissect the n
 eural mechanisms responsible for the compensatory process in future studie
 s.\n\nReferences:\nNishimura et al. (2007) Science 318:1150-1155.\nNishimu
 ra et al\,. (2011) PLoS ONE 6: e24854\nKinoshita et al. (2012) Nature 487:
  235-238\nAlstermark and Isa (2012) Ann Rev Neurosci 35:559-578.
LOCATION:SV1717a http://plan.epfl.ch/?room=SV%201717A
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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