Cortical neuroprosthesis-mediated functional ipsilateral control of locomotion in rats with spinal cord hemisection (Updated August 21, 2024).

A recent study investigated the role of the ipsilateral motor cortex in rat movement following a spinal cord injury. The researchers combined a spinal cord injury with a cortical neuroprosthetic approach and found that stimulation of the ipsilesional motor cortex promoted bilateral synergy in all rats, resulting in the elevation of the contralateral foot and ipsilateral hindlimb extension. Additionally, in some animals, stimulation of a sub-region of the hindlimb motor cortex modulated ipsilateral hindlimb flexion. The study suggests a causal link between cortical activation and precise ipsilateral control of hindlimb movement, which has implications for the development of neuroprosthetic technology and our understanding of motor control in spinal cord injury. [Extracted from the article]