Dr. Aiko Thompson was awarded a 1-year South Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund grant to investigate inducing corticospinal plasticity for improving upper extremity motor function recovery in people with chronic cervical spinal cord injury.

The goal of this project is to explore the mechanisms of plasticity and therapeutic effects produced through operant up-conditioning of the motor evoked potential in the upper extremity of individuals with chronic incomplete cervical SCI. This funding provides Dr. Lewis (Thompson’s postdoc fellow) opportunities to further develop her understanding of corticospinal and spinal plasticity after SCI.