Spinal Cord Function and Rehabilitation – an Overview

The symposium brought together researchers focusing on spinal cord networks, pharmacology, repair, and rehabilitation to compare notes and discuss future strategies, acknowledging the challenges in spinal pathway regeneration. Interneurons exhibit great versatility, operating in networks, shifting neuronal activity balance, and selecting pathways, with neuromodulators differentially affecting segmental and ascending pathways by activating plateau potentials. After spinal cord injury, maximizing locomotor recovery is crucial, necessitating understanding and pharmacological manipulation of neurotransmitters, with glutamatergic mechanisms becoming dominant post-spinalisation.

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  Interneurons can combine into networks, shift the balance of neuronal activity, and select between pathways, with neuromodulators differentially affecting pathways.
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  Task-dependent groupings of interneurons exist, evidenced by the switch from Ib homonymous inhibition in static posture to net excitation during locomotion.
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  After spinal cord injury, glutamatergic mechanisms become dominant, and repeated exposure to sensory input and interneuronal activity associated with locomotion may reverse deleterious alterations.