TY - JOUR

T1 - Mapping of the Spinal Sensorimotor Network by Transvertebral and Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation

AU - Shkorbatova, Polina ч

AU - Lyakhovetskii, Vsevolod

AU - Pavlova, Natalia

AU - Popov, Alexander

AU - Bazhenova, Elena

AU - Kalinina, Daria

AU - Gorskii, Oleg

AU - Musienko, Pavel

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2020 Shkorbatova, Lyakhovetskii, Pavlova, Popov, Bazhenova, Kalinina, Gorskii and Musienko.

PY - 2020/10/9

Y1 - 2020/10/9

N2 - Transcutaneous stimulation is a neuromodulation method that is efficiently used for recovery after spinal cord injury and other disorders that are accompanied by motor and sensory deficits. Multiple aspects of transcutaneous stimulation optimization still require testing in animal experiments including the use of pharmacological agents, spinal lesions, cell recording, etc. This need initially motivated us to develop a new approach of transvertebral spinal cord stimulation (SCS) and to test its feasibility in acute and chronic experiments on rats. The aims of the current work were to study the selectivity of muscle activation over the lower thoracic and lumbosacral spinal cord when the stimulating electrode was located intravertebrally and to compare its effectiveness to that of the clinically used transcutaneous stimulation. In decerebrated rats, electromyographic activity was recorded in the muscles of the back (m. longissimus dorsi), tail (m. abductor caudae dorsalis), and hindlimb (mm. iliacus, adductor magnus, vastus lateralis, semitendinosus, tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius medialis, soleus, and flexor hallucis longus) during SCS with an electrode placed alternately in one of the spinous processes of the VT12–VS1 vertebrae. The recruitment curves for motor and sensory components of the evoked potentials (separated from each other by means of double-pulse stimulation) were plotted for each muscle; their slopes characterized the effectiveness of the muscle activation. The electrophysiological mapping demonstrated that transvertebral SCS has specific effects to the rostrocaudally distributed sensorimotor network of the lower thoracic and lumbosacral cord, mainly by stimulation of the roots that carry the sensory and motor spinal pathways. These effects were compared in the same animals when mapping was performed by transcutaneous stimulation, and similar distribution of muscle activity and underlying neuroanatomical mechanisms were found. The experiments on chronic rats validated the feasibility of the proposed stimulation approach of transvertebral SCS for further studies.

AB - Transcutaneous stimulation is a neuromodulation method that is efficiently used for recovery after spinal cord injury and other disorders that are accompanied by motor and sensory deficits. Multiple aspects of transcutaneous stimulation optimization still require testing in animal experiments including the use of pharmacological agents, spinal lesions, cell recording, etc. This need initially motivated us to develop a new approach of transvertebral spinal cord stimulation (SCS) and to test its feasibility in acute and chronic experiments on rats. The aims of the current work were to study the selectivity of muscle activation over the lower thoracic and lumbosacral spinal cord when the stimulating electrode was located intravertebrally and to compare its effectiveness to that of the clinically used transcutaneous stimulation. In decerebrated rats, electromyographic activity was recorded in the muscles of the back (m. longissimus dorsi), tail (m. abductor caudae dorsalis), and hindlimb (mm. iliacus, adductor magnus, vastus lateralis, semitendinosus, tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius medialis, soleus, and flexor hallucis longus) during SCS with an electrode placed alternately in one of the spinous processes of the VT12–VS1 vertebrae. The recruitment curves for motor and sensory components of the evoked potentials (separated from each other by means of double-pulse stimulation) were plotted for each muscle; their slopes characterized the effectiveness of the muscle activation. The electrophysiological mapping demonstrated that transvertebral SCS has specific effects to the rostrocaudally distributed sensorimotor network of the lower thoracic and lumbosacral cord, mainly by stimulation of the roots that carry the sensory and motor spinal pathways. These effects were compared in the same animals when mapping was performed by transcutaneous stimulation, and similar distribution of muscle activity and underlying neuroanatomical mechanisms were found. The experiments on chronic rats validated the feasibility of the proposed stimulation approach of transvertebral SCS for further studies.

KW - transvertebral spinal cord stimulation

KW - transcutaneous stimulation

KW - sensorimotor network

KW - spinal cord

KW - decerebrated rat

KW - neuromodulation

KW - SOMATOTOPIC ORGANIZATION

KW - RAT

KW - VENTRAL HORN

KW - EVOKED EMG

KW - ELECTRICAL-STIMULATION

KW - EPIDURAL STIMULATION

KW - ANIMAL-MODEL

KW - VERTEBRAL LEVEL

KW - AFFERENT-FIBERS

KW - MUSCLES

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094123415&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/53c9b62a-1b22-3f38-bd0e-06db21792668/

U2 - 10.3389/fnsys.2020.555593

DO - 10.3389/fnsys.2020.555593

M3 - Article

C2 - 33162882

VL - 14

JO - Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience

JF - Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience

SN - 1662-5137

M1 - 555593

ER -