Temperature regulation: The spinal cord as a site of extrahypothalamic thermoregulatory functions

2005 ◽  
pp. 1-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eckhart Simon
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Temperature Regulation ◽  
A Site

Spinal cord, hypothalamic, and air temperature: interaction with arousal states in the marmot

1979 ◽  
Vol 236 (1) ◽  
pp. R107-R116
Author(s):  
V. M. Miller ◽  
F. E. South
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Temperature Regulation ◽  
Cortical Surface ◽  
Marmota Flaviventris ◽  
Arousal State ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Stimulation Period ◽  
Temperature Receptors ◽  
Temperature Manipulation ◽  
Temperature Interaction

Yellow-bellied marmots, Marmota flaviventris, prepared with U-shaped thermodes in the epidural space of the thoracic vertebral canal, a thermode in the preoptic hypothalamus, and cortical surface and hippocampal electrodes, were used to investigate the interaction of arousal states with temperature regulation. It was found that arousal state of the animal influences the thermoregulatory responses initiated in either the spinal cord or hypothalamus. Further, changes in ambient temperature affected both the gain and the threshold of these responses. The interaction of the hypothalamus and spinal cord was not an additive function, however the threshold for shivering of each could be altered by temperature manipulation of the other. Future studies in modeling of temperature regulation should consider the contributions of temperature receptors of the spinal cord and the arousal state of the animal during the stimulation period.

Restoration of Direct Corticospinal Communication Across Sites of Spinal Injury

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naveen Jayaprakash ◽  
David Nowak ◽  
Erik Eastwood ◽  
Nicholas Krueger ◽  
Zimei Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Motor Control ◽  
Neural Progenitor Cells ◽  
Corticospinal Tract ◽  
Spinal Injury ◽  
Combined Treatment ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Spinal Neurons ◽  
Injury Site ◽  
A Site

Injury to the spinal cord often disrupts long-distance axon tracts that link the brain and spinal cord, causing permanent disability. Axon regeneration is then prevented by a combination of inhibitory signals that emerge at the injury site and by a low capacity for regeneration within injured neurons. The corticospinal tract (CST) is essential for fine motor control but has proven refractory to many attempted pro-regenerative treatments. Although strategies are emerging to create relay or detour circuits that re-route cortical motor commands through spared circuits, these have only partially met the challenge of restoring motor control. Here, using a murine model of spinal injury, we elevated the intrinsic regenerative ability of CST neurons by supplying a pro-regenerative transcription factor, KLF6, while simultaneously supplying injured CST axons with a growth-permissive graft of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) transplanted into a site of spinal injury. The combined treatment produced robust CST regeneration directly through the grafts and into distal spinal cord. Moreover, selective optogenetic stimulation of regenerated CST axons and single-unit electrophysiology revealed extensive synaptic integration by CST axons with spinal neurons beyond the injury site. Finally, when KLF6 was delivered to injured neurons with a highly effective retrograde vector, combined KLF6/NPC treatment yielded significant improvements in forelimb function. These findings highlight the utility of retrograde gene therapy as a strategy to treat CNS injury and establish conditions that restore functional CST communication across a site of spinal injury.Significance StatementDamage to the spinal cord results in incurable paralysis because axons that carry descending motor commands are unable to regenerate. Here we deployed a two-pronged strategy in a rodent model of spinal injury to promote regeneration by the corticospinal tract, a critical mediator of fine motor control. Delivering pro-regenerative KLF6 to injured neurons while simultaneously transplanting neural progenitor cells to injury sites resulted in robust regeneration directly through sites of spinal injury, accompanied by extensive synapse formation with spinal neurons. In addition, when KLF6 was delivered with improved retrograde gene therapy vectors, the combined treatment significantly improved forelimb function in injured animals. This work represents important progress toward restoring regeneration and motor function after spinal injury.

Spinal cord pathways involved in initiation of swimming in the stingray, Dasyatis sabina: spinal cord stimulation and lesions

1984 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 578-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Williams ◽  
C. A. Livingston ◽  
R. B. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Rhythmic Activity ◽  
Descending Pathways ◽  
Pectoral Fin ◽  
Lateral Funiculus ◽  
Root Entry Zone ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Motor Nerves ◽  
Stimulation Experiments ◽  
A Site

In spinally transected stingrays, electrical stimulation of a site just ventral to the dorsal root entry zone or a site in the intermediate portions of the lateral funiculus produced rhythmic swimming like movements of the contralateral pectoral fin. Electromyographic (EMG) records collected during cord-stimulated rhythms had the same pattern of activity and sometimes the same intersegmental coordination as those collected during spontaneous swimming of the same animal. In paralyzed, high-spinal stingrays, the only stimulation sites that produced rhythmic activity (fictive swimming) in the pectoral fin motor nerves were in the intermediate portion of the lateral funiculus. The evoked rhythm occurred in the motor nerves that were contralateral to the stimulated side of the spinal cord. The effects of subtotal lesions of the rostral spinal cord on spontaneous swimming behavior were assessed by analysis of EMG records taken before and after the lesions were made. Severe deficits in swimming occurred after bilateral ablation of intermediate portions of the lateral funiculi. In agreement with previous results, the stimulation experiments indicate that the stingray spinal cord contains an inherent capacity to generate properly coordinated rhythmic swimming. The current experiments also suggest that the descending pathways(s) that normally functions to initiate swimming projects through the intermediate aspects of the lateral funiculi.

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