Author/Editor		Jilge, B; Minassian, K; Rattay, F; Pinter, MM; Gerstenbrand, F; Binder, H; Dimitrijević, MR
Title		Initiating extension of the lower limbs in subjects with complete spinal cord injury by epidural lumbar cord stimulation
Type		članek
Source		Exp Brain Res
Vol. and No.		Letnik 154
Publication year		2004
Volume		str. 308-26
Language		eng
Abstract		We provide evidence that the human spinal cord is able to respond to external afferent input and to generate a sustained extension of the lower extremities when isolated fi-om brain control. The present study demonstrates that sustained, nonpatterned electrical stimulation of the, lumbosacral cord-applied at a frequency in the range of 5-15 Hz and a strength above the thresholds for twitches in the thigh and leg muscles-can initiate and retain lower-limb extension in paraplegic subjects with a long history of complete spinal cord injury. We hypothesize that the induced extension is due to tonic input applied by the epidural stimulation to prunary sensory afferents. The induced volleys elicit muscle twitches (posterior root muscle-reflex responses) at short and constant latency.
Descriptors		SPINAL CORD INJURIES PARAPLEGIA EPIDURAL SPACE ELECTRIC STIMULATION KNEE JOINT ELECTROMYOGRAPHY