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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
A Murine Model of Muscle Training by Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation
Published on: May 9, 2012
An animal model of functional electrical stimulation: evidence that the central nervous system modulates the
1Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4235, USA.
Study Design:
Review of how spinal neurons can modulate the consequences of functional electrical stimulation (FES) in an animal model.
Methods:
Spinal effects of FES are examined in male Sprague-Dawley rats transected at the second thoracic vertebra. The rats are exposed to FES training 24-48 h after surgery. Experimental manipulations of stimulation parameters, combined with physiological and pharmacological procedures, are used to examine the potential role of spinal neurons.
Results:
The isolated spinal cord is inherently capable of learning the response-outcome relations imposed in FES training contingencies. Adaptive behavioral modifications are observed when an outcome (electrical stimulation) is contingent on a behavioral response. In contrast, a lack of correlation between the response and outcome in training produces a learning deficit in the spinal cord, rendering it incapable of adaptive learning for up to 48 h. The N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor appears to mediate both the adaptive plasticity and loss of plasticity, seen in this spinal model.
Conclusion:
The behavioral effects observed with FES therapies are not simply due to the direct (motor) consequences of stimulation elicited by the activation of efferent motor neurons and/or selected muscles. FES training has the capacity to shape inherent spinal circuits and to produce a long-lasting behavioral modification. Further understanding of the spinal mechanisms underlying adaptive behavioral modification will be integral for establishing functional neural connections in a regenerating spinal system.
