Research team identifies potential target for restoring movement after spinal cord injury

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have made several novel discoveries in the field of spinal cord injuries (SCI). Most recently, the team led by Xiao-Ming Xu, Ph.D., has been working to determine how to activate movement after a spinal cord injury at the ninth thoracic level, where nerve fibers from the brain down to the spinal cord are interrupted. Instead of focusing on the injury site, researcher Qi Han and his colleagues modulated the spared lumbar circuits below the injury to improve recovery from SCI, using animal models.