Détails de la réservation
- Le : 26 February 2018
- De : 11 h 00
- à : 12 h 30
- Salle : Amphi Centre Broca Nouvelle - Aquitaine
Détails de l'évènement
Séminaire impromptu Neurocampus Fabien Wagner
PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
(Lausanne, Switzerland) Mentor: Prof. Grégoire Courtine
"Spinal cord injury disrupts the neuronal connections between the brain and the spinal cord"
Résumé
Spinal cord injury disrupts the neuronal connections between the brain and the spinal cord, resulting in the inability to activate the leg muscles required for walking. I will present the development of neuroprosthetic technologies for enabling locomotion and enhancing activity-dependent plasticity in species ranging from rodents to non-human primates and eventually patients with spinal cord injury. These interventions act over two time scales. Immediately, electrical spatiotemporal neuromodulation of spinal circuits enables motor control of the paralyzed legs. In the long term, intense gait training enabled by these technologies promotes neuroplasticity and reestablishes voluntary control of movement.
We first developed, in animal models, spatially selective spinal implants that can modulate muscle synergies responsible for flexion and extension of the legs. To reproduce the natural muscle activation pattern during locomotion, we interfaced these implants with either kinematic feedback or brain activity recorded from intracortical microelectrode arrays.
In a non-human primate model of spinal cord injury, this brain-spine interface instantly restored robust locomotor movements of the paralyzed leg. We are now conducting a clinical feasibility study in patients with incomplete spinal cord injury to validate these concepts in humans. Spatiotemporal neuromodulation strategies during overground locomotion with robotic assistance resulted in considerable immediate facilitation of leg kinematics and muscle activity. In all participants, gait training during 5 months led to improvement of motor functions, even in the absence of stimulation. These preliminary results provide encouraging insights into the potential of this intervention to augment neural plasticity and functional recovery after spinal cord injury.
Invitant : Erwan Bézard, Directeur de l'IMN (Institut des maladies neurodégénératives)
Responsable
- Nom : MEYNARD SONIA