Reactivate, Rewire, Restore - Priming the nervous system to optimize function after spinal cord injury

Spinal cord and brain mechanisms underlying the control of movement adapt in response to training.  In persons with spinal cord injury this beneficial neural adaptation, or adaptive neuroplasticity, is supportive of function and can counteract some aspects of the maladaptive plasticity that is associated with neuropathology.  Afferent inputs such as stimulation and vibration engage many of the same mechanisms that are activated by training, and these inputs can augment training effects.  Using what is known about neural responses to afferent input, treatment strategies can be structured to incorporate stimulation and vibration into training programs to improve motor function in persons with spinal cord injury and other neurologic conditions.

Short Bio
As director of spinal cord injury (SCI) research and the Hulse Spinal Injury Laboratory at Shepherd Center, Dr. Field-Fote leads a team dedicated to improving motor function in persons with SCI through the development of rehabilitation approaches informed by the latest neuroscience research. Her contributions to SCI literature include the largest study to date of locomotor training for persons with chronic, motor-incomplete SCI, as well as the first-ever study of a rehabilitation intervention to promote neuroplasticity for improved hand function in persons with tetraplegia.  
With a clinical background as a physical therapist and Ph.D. training in an animal model of SCI, Dr. Field-Fote's 20+ years of SCI research have spanned the breadth of basic and clinical research related to SCI. Dr. Field-Fote’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1997, and also by the National Institute on Independent Living, Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NILDRR) and the Department of Defense (DoD). Dr. Field-Fote is the editor/author of the textbook Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation (FA Davis Publishers). She currently serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy, and as project director of the Southeastern Regional Spinal Cord Injury Model System at Shepherd Center. Dr. Field-Fote is also a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the School of Biological Sciences.