Recent clinical studies have shown that activation of 'central pattern generator' (CPG)
networks of spinal neurons, known to produce rhythmic patterns of
coordinated movements, may revive some of the lost motor function in
patients of spinal cord injury. Our ability to reactivate undamaged
components of the CPGs in spinal cord injury patients depends on
multidisciplinary knowledge gained from clinical studies and from basic
research of the pattern generating circuitry in experimental models of
spinal cords that are disconnected from descending voluntary control. The
basic research in our laboratory is focused on identification of pattern
generating neurons in isolated spinal cord preparations of the neonatal rat
and mouse, on characterization of their activity patterns and synaptic
connectivity, and on possible ways to activate the pattern generators in
these preparations. The clinical research in our laboratory, performed in
collaboration with the Department of Rehabilitation Neurology at the Sheba
Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, focuses at reducing the occurrence of spastic
episodes and enhancing the motor capacity of spinal cord injury patients.