Physiology Research
Browse the latest research summaries in the field of physiology for spinal cord injury patients and caregivers.
Showing 241-250 of 321 results
Associations between vitamin D, adiposity, and respiratory symptoms in chronic spinal cord injury
The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2018 • January 1, 2018
This cross-sectional study assessed the associations between respiratory symptoms and plasma vitamin D and measures of body fat in individuals with chronic SCI. The study found that increased body fat...
KEY FINDING: Increased body fat (android, gynoid, trunk, or total body fat) was associated with increased odds ratios for any wheeze and suggestive associations with persistent wheeze, but not with chronic cough or phlegm.
Spinal activation of protein kinase C elicits phrenic motor facilitation
Respir Physiol Neurobiol, 2018 • October 1, 2018
This study demonstrates that spinal PKC activation elicits pMF, an effect prevented by pretreatment with two PKC inhibitors that differ in their mechanism of action and isoform specificity: BIS and NP...
KEY FINDING: Spinal PKC activation via intrathecal PMA elicits pMF.
Loss of maximal explosive power of lower limbs after 2 weeks of disuse and incomplete recovery after retraining in older adults
J Physiol, 2018 • December 20, 2017
The study examined the impact of disuse and retraining on lower limb muscle power in young and older adults. Disuse led to a significant decrease in MEP in older adults, while retraining was insuffici...
KEY FINDING: Disuse significantly decreased maximal explosive power (MEP) in older adults but not significantly in young adults.
Neural Control and Physiology of Sexual Function: Effect of Spinal Cord Injury
Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil, 2017 • January 1, 2017
This article reviews the impact of spinal cord injury (SCI) on sexual function, covering the basic anatomy and physiology of sexual responses, the pathophysiology of sexual dysfunction following SCI, ...
KEY FINDING: Peripheral nerves in the pelvis are regulated by cerebral control, and SCI can disrupt this control, impacting both psychological and reflex responses for genital arousal, ejaculation, and orgasm.
Cardiovascular Physiology and Responses to Sexual Activity in Individuals Living with Spinal Cord Injury
Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil, 2017 • January 1, 2017
Spinal cord injury can lead to alterations in cardiovascular autonomic function, resulting in low resting blood pressure, orthostatic hypotension, and autonomic dysreflexia. The mechanisms behind thes...
KEY FINDING: Individuals with SCI at or above the T6 neurologic level are at increased risk of AD during sexual stimulation. This risk increases with higher and more complete injuries.
Phrenic motor neuron adenosine 2A receptors elicit phrenic motor facilitation
J Physiol, 2018 • January 31, 2018
The study investigates the specific cervical spinal cells expressing A2A receptors responsible for phrenic motor facilitation (pMF). The researchers used siRNA injections to knock down A2A receptors i...
KEY FINDING: A2A receptors are highly expressed in motor neurons (including phrenic motor neurons) versus other cell types in the cervical spinal cord.
Correlation between Pathological Characteristics and Young’s Modulus Value of Spastic Gastrocnemius in a Spinal Cord Injury Rat Model
BioMed Research International, 2017 • December 27, 2017
This study investigated the pathological characteristics and stiffness of the gastrocnemius muscle (GM) in a rat model of spinal cord injury (SCI). The researchers used shear wave sonoelastography to ...
KEY FINDING: GM weights were decreased in the SCI model group compared to the control group, indicating muscle atrophy.
Quantification of trunk and android lean mass using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry compared to magnetic resonance imaging after spinal cord injury
The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2019 • July 1, 2019
This study evaluated the accuracy of DXA in quantifying trunk lean mass compared to MRI in men with SCI. The results showed that DXA overestimated trunk lean mass when compared to MRI. The study also ...
KEY FINDING: DXA overestimated trunk lean mass compared to MRI measurements. Trunk LM-DXA (24 ± 3.3 kg) and android LM-DXA (3.6 ± 0.7 kg) overestimated (P < 0.0001) trunk LM-MRI (1.7 ± 0.5 kg).
Estimates of the precision of regional and whole body composition by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in persons with chronic spinal cord injury
Spinal Cord, 2018 • October 1, 2018
This study evaluated the reproducibility of total and regional DXA-derived body composition values in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). The study assessed both short-term (same day) and long-...
KEY FINDING: Short-term precision: The RMS-CV% for each region did not exceed 5.6%, 2.7%, 3.8%, 6.5%, 5.8% and 2.3% for arms, legs, trunk, android and gynoid regions and total body mass, respectively.
Isoflurane anesthesia does not affect spinal cord neurovascular coupling: evidence from decerebrated rats
The Journal of Physiological Sciences, 2019 • March 29, 2018
The study examined the effects of isoflurane anesthesia on spinal cord neurovascular coupling in decerebrated rats during sciatic nerve stimulation. Results indicated that isoflurane did not significa...
KEY FINDING: Isoflurane anesthesia (1.2%) did not significantly alter LFP amplitude (p = 0.53) in the spinal cord of decerebrated rats.