OBJECTIVE: To investigate a walking environment effect on soleus H-reflex modulation during walking in persons with motor incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) and noninjured controls. DESIGN: Pretest and posttest repeated-measures quasi-experimental controlled design. SETTING: Locomotor training laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Eight adults with incomplete SCI and 8 noninjured age- and speed-matched controls. INTERVENTION: Walking overground with a customary assistive device and brace at a self-selected, comfortable walking speed was compared with walking on treadmill with 40% body weight support (BWS) and manual trainers for leg and trunk movement guidance. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Mean soleus H-reflex amplitude (H/M ratio) was recorded during midstance and midswing phases of walking. RESULTS: The H/M ratio was 33% smaller in stance phase (P=.078) and 56% smaller in the swing phase (P=.008) of walking on the treadmill with BWS and manual assistance compared with overground in the incomplete SCI group. The H/M ratio in the incomplete SCI group was significantly greater compared with noninjured controls in the stance and swing phases of overground walking (P=.001, P=.007, respectively). Soleus H-reflex modulation in the 2 walking environments did not differ significantly in the noninjured population. CONCLUSIONS: Training walking on a treadmill with BWS and manual assistance to approximate the kinematics and spatiotemporal pattern of walking may be a more optimal environment to aid in normalizing reflex modulation after incomplete SCI when compared with conventional gait training overground.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate a walking environment effect on soleus H-reflex modulation during walking in persons with motor incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) and noninjured controls. DESIGN: Pretest and posttest repeated-measures quasi-experimental controlled design. SETTING: Locomotor training laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Eight adults with incomplete SCI and 8 noninjured age- and speed-matched controls. INTERVENTION: Walking overground with a customary assistive device and brace at a self-selected, comfortable walking speed was compared with walking on treadmill with 40% body weight support (BWS) and manual trainers for leg and trunk movement guidance. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Mean soleus H-reflex amplitude (H/M ratio) was recorded during midstance and midswing phases of walking. RESULTS: The H/M ratio was 33% smaller in stance phase (P=.078) and 56% smaller in the swing phase (P=.008) of walking on the treadmill with BWS and manual assistance compared with overground in the incomplete SCI group. The H/M ratio in the incomplete SCI group was significantly greater compared with noninjured controls in the stance and swing phases of overground walking (P=.001, P=.007, respectively). Soleus H-reflex modulation in the 2 walking environments did not differ significantly in the noninjured population. CONCLUSIONS: Training walking on a treadmill with BWS and manual assistance to approximate the kinematics and spatiotemporal pattern of walking may be a more optimal environment to aid in normalizing reflex modulation after incomplete SCI when compared with conventional gait training overground.
Authors: Chetan P Phadke; Floyd J Thompson; Carl G Kukulka; Preeti M Nair; Mark G Bowden; Sangeetha Madhavan; Mark H Trimble; Andrea L Behrman Journal: J Spinal Cord Med Date: 2010 Impact factor: 1.985
Authors: Emily J Fox; Nicole J Tester; Steven A Kautz; Dena R Howland; David J Clark; Cyndi Garvan; Andrea L Behrman Journal: J Neurophysiol Date: 2013-06-12 Impact factor: 2.714
Authors: Karen Ollivier-Lanvin; Benjamin E Keeler; Rachel Siegfried; John D Houlé; Michel A Lemay Journal: Exp Neurol Date: 2009-11-11 Impact factor: 5.330