Targeted Spinal Cord Plasticity for Alleviating SCI Related Neuropathic Pain
Abstract
The objective of this project is to decrease neural transmission in spinal pain pathways that become overactive after spinal cord injury (SCI) and contribute to the persistent SCI-related neuropathic pain (SCI-NP). To accomplish this objective, we will test a neurobehavioral training, operant conditioning of cutaneous reflexes, in which people with SCI-NP learn to enhance non-nociceptive spinal transmission and reduce nociceptive transmission, towards restoring a more appropriate balance of pain and non-pain-related spinal neural transmission.The approach is completely non-invasive, non-pharmacologic, and is rehabilitative. The specific aims are (1) to characterize the spinal components of cutaneous reflexes in a rat model of SCI, including their interactions with nociceptive pathways after acutely increasing the excitability of cutaneous reflex pathways; (2) to characterize non-nociceptive cutaneous reflexes in people after SCI with and without SCI-NP; and (3) to demonstrate the feasibility of cutaneous reflex operant conditioning in people with SCI-NP.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1221822
Entities
People
- Aiko K Thompson
- Jacob Mcpherson
Organizations
- Medical University of South Carolina
- Washington University in St. Louis