Although most spinal cord injuries are anatomically incomplete, only limited functional recovery has been observed in people and rats with partial lesions. To address why surviving fibers cannot mediate more complete recovery, we evaluated the physiological and anatomical status of spared fibers after unilateral hemisection (HX) of thoracic spinal cord in adult rats. We made intracellular and extracellular recordings at L5 (below HX) in response to electrical stimulation of contralateral white matter above (T6) and below (L1) HX. Responses from T6 displayed reduced amplitude, increased latency and elevated stimulus threshold in the fibers across from HX, beginning 1-2 weeks after HX. Ultrastructural analysis revealed demyelination of intact axons contralateral to the HX, with a time course similar to the conduction changes. Behavioral studies indicated partial recovery which arrested when conduction deficits began. In conclusion, this study is the first demonstration of the delayed decline of transmission through surviving axons to individual lumbar motoneurons during chronic stage of incomplete spinal cord injury in adult rats. These findings suggest a chronic pathological state in intact fibers and necessity for prompt treatment to minimize it.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 25 February 2010.
All research outputs
#17,286,379
of 25,374,647 outputs
Outputs from Experimental Neurology
#3,011
of 3,972 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#91,777
of 107,214 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Experimental Neurology
#31
of 35 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,647 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 21st percentile – i.e., 21% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,972 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.3. This one is in the 16th percentile – i.e., 16% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 107,214 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 8th percentile – i.e., 8% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 35 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 8th percentile – i.e., 8% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
