@article {3159,
	title = {Corticospinal tract transection prevents operantly conditioned H-reflex increase in rats.},
	journal = {Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Exp{\'e}rimentation c{\'e}r{\'e}brale},
	volume = {144},
	year = {2002},
	month = {05/2002},
	pages = {88{\textendash}94},
	abstract = {Operant conditioning of the H-reflex, the electrical analog of the spinal stretch reflex, in freely moving rats is a relatively simple model for studying long-term supraspinal control over spinal cord function. Motivated by food reward, rats can gradually increase (i.e., up-condition) or decrease (i.e., down-condition) the soleus H-reflex. Earlier work showed that corticospinal tract transection prevents acquisition and maintenance of H-reflex down-conditioning while transection of other major spinal cord tracts does not. This study explores the effects on acquisition of up-conditioning of the right soleus H-reflex of mid-thoracic transection of: the right lateral column (LC, five rats) (containing the rubrospinal, vestibulospinal, and reticulospinal tracts); the entire dorsal column (DC, six rats) [containing the main corticospinal tract (CST) and the dorsal ascending tract (DA)]; the CST alone (five rats); or the DA alone (seven rats). After initial (i.e., control) H-reflex amplitude was determined, the rat was exposed for 50 days to the up-conditioning mode in which reward was given when the H-reflex was above a criterion value. H-reflex amplitude at the end of up-conditioning was compared to initial H-reflex amplitude. An increase > or =20\% was defined as successful up-conditioning. In intact rats, H-reflex amplitude at the end of up-conditioning averaged 164\% (+/-10\%, SE), and 81\% were successful. In the present study, LC and DA rats were similar to intact rats in final H-reflex amplitude and percent successful. In contrast, results for DC and CST rats were significantly different from those of intact rats. In the six DC rats, final H-reflex amplitude averaged 105\% (+/-3)\% of control and none was successful; and in the five CST rats, final H-reflex amplitude averaged 94\% (+/-3)\% and none was successful. The results indicate that the main CST, located in the dorsal column, is essential for H-reflex up-conditioning as it is for down-conditioning, while the dorsal column ascending tract and the ipsilateral lateral column (containing the main rubrospinal, vestibulospinal, and reticulospinal tracts) do not appear to be essential.},
	keywords = {dorsal column, lateral column, Learning, plasticity, spinal cord injury},
	issn = {0014-4819},
	doi = {10.1007/s00221-002-1026-8},
	url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11976762},
	author = {Xiang Yang Chen and Jonathan S. Carp and Lu Chen and Jonathan Wolpaw}
}
