01977nas a2200229   4500008004100000022001400041245005500055210004900110260001200159300001400171490000800185520137700193653001301570653001701583653001301600653001101613653001501624653001601639653002301655100002101678856004801699       2006                        eng d  a0079-612300aThe education and re-education of the spinal cord.0 aeducation and reeducation of the spinal cord  c02/2006  a261–2800 v1573 aIn normal life, activity-dependent plasticity occurs in the spinal cord as well as in the brain. Like CNS plasticity elsewhere, this spinal cord plasticity can occur at many neuronal and synaptic sites and by a variety of mechanisms. Spinal cord plasticity is prominent in postnatal development and contributes to acquisition of standard behaviors such as locomotion and rapid withdrawal from pain. Later on in life, spinal cord plasticity contributes to acquisition and maintenance of specialized motor skills, and to compensation for the peripheral and central changes associated with aging, disease, and trauma. Mastery of even the simplest behaviors is accompanied by complex spinal and supraspinal plasticity. This complexity is necessary, to preserve the full roster of behaviors, and is also inevitable, due to the ubiquity of activity-dependent plasticity in the CNS. Careful investigation of spinal cord plasticity is essential for understanding motor skills; and, because of the relative simplicity and accessibility of the spinal cord, is a logical and convenient starting point for exploring skill acquisition. Appropriate induction and guidance of activity-dependent plasticity in the spinal cord is likely to be a key part of the realization of effective new rehabilitation methods for spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, and other chronic motor disorders.10abehavior10aconditioning10aLearning10aMemory10aplasticity10aSpinal Cord10aspinal cord injury1 aWolpaw, Jonathan  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1716791603278nas a2200229   4500008004100000022001400041245006900055210006700124260001200191300001400203490000700217520263700224653001302861653001702874653001302891653001102904653001902915653002302934100002102957700002202978856004803000       2001                        eng d  a0147-006X00aActivity-dependent spinal cord plasticity in health and disease.0 aActivitydependent spinal cord plasticity in health and disease  c03/2001  a807–8430 v243 aActivity-dependent plasticity occurs in the spinal cord throughout life. Driven by input from the periphery and the brain, this plasticity plays an important role in the acquisition and maintenance of motor skills and in the effects of spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders. The responses of the isolated spinal cord to sensory input display sensitization, long-term potentiation, and related phenomena that contribute to chronic pain syndromes; they can also be modified by both classical and operant conditioning protocols. In animals with transected spinal cords and in humans with spinal cord injuries, treadmill training gradually modifies the spinal cord so as to improve performance. These adaptations by the isolated spinal cord are specific to the training regimen and underlie new approaches to restoring function after spinal cord injury. Descending inputs from the brain that occur during normal development, as a result of supraspinal trauma, and during skill acquisition change the spinal cord. The early development of adult spinal cord reflex patterns is driven by descending activity; disorders that disrupt descending activity later in life gradually change spinal cord reflexes. Athletic training, such as that undertaken by ballet dancers, is associated with gradual alterations in spinal reflexes that appear to contribute to skill acquisition. Operant conditioning protocols in animals and humans can produce comparable reflex changes and are associated with functional and structural plasticity in the spinal cord, including changes in motoneuron firing threshold and axonal conduction velocity, and in synaptic terminals on motoneurons. The corticospinal tract has a key role in producing this plasticity. Behavioral changes produced by practice or injury reflect the combination of plasticity at multiple spinal cord and supraspinal sites. Plasticity at multiple sites is both necessary-to insure continued performance of previously acquired behaviors-and inevitable-due to the ubiquity of the capacity for activity-dependent plasticity in the central nervous system. Appropriate induction and guidance of activity-dependent plasticity in the spinal cord is an essential component of new therapeutic approaches aimed at maximizing function after spinal cord injury or restoring function to a newly regenerated spinal cord. Because plasticity in the spinal cord contributes to skill acquisition and because the spinal cord is relatively simple and accessible, this plasticity is a logical and practical starting point for studying the acquisition and maintenance of skilled behaviors.10abehavior10aconditioning10aLearning10aMemory10aRehabilitation10aspinal cord injury1 aWolpaw, Jonathan1 aTennissen, A., M.  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1152091901213nas a2200313   4500008004100000022001400041245005000055210004500105300001400150490000700164520043400171653001300605653001000618653001700628653002100645653001300666653001100679653001500690653001100705653001200716653001100728653001600739653001600755653002200771653001500793100002100808700002300829856004700852       1993                        eng d  a0065-140000aThe volitional nature of the simplest reflex.0 avolitional nature of the simplest reflex  a103–1110 v533 aRecent studies suggest that none of the behaviors of the vertebrate CNS are fixed responses incapable of change. Even the simplest reflex of all, the two-neuron, monosynaptic spinal stretch reflex (SSR), undergoes adaptive change under appropriate circumstances. Operantly conditioned SSR change occurs gradually over days and weeks and is associated with a complex pattern of CNS plasticity at both spinal and supraspinal sites.10abehavior10aBrain10aconditioning10ahuman physiology10aLearning10aMemory10amotoneuron10anature10aprimate10aReflex10aSpinal Cord10aspinal site10asupra spinal site10avertebrate1 aWolpaw, Jonathan1 aCarp, Jonathan, S.  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8317238