Brain sensorimotor system atrophy during the early stage of spinal cord injury in humans

Spinal cord injury (SCI) usually leads to severe sensory and motor deficits below the spinal lesion. Previous animal models have shown significant atrophic changes in the neural sensorimotor system following SCI. However, specific anatomical changes in the human brain following SCI remain poorly understood. The purpose of the present study was to investigate structural changes during the early stage of SCI, and to investigate further the association between the structural changes and patients' sensorimotor functions. The study participants included 20 patients with SCI and 30 matched healthy controls. The mean period post-SCI was 8.9±2.7weeks (range 4-12weeks). Voxel-based morphometry was used to investigate the regions with gray and white matter volume changes. Compared to healthy controls, patients with SCI showed significant gray matter atrophy in the primary motor cortex (M1), primary somatosensory cortex (S1), supplementary motor area (SMA), and thalamus, as well as white matter atrophy in the corticospinal tracts at the level of the bilateral cerebral peduncles. In addition, gray matter volume in the primary motor cortex was positively correlated with the total American Spinal Injury Association motor score in patients with SCI. In conclusion, our findings suggest that SCI causes significant anatomical changes in the human sensorimotor system, and that these anatomical changes may occur in the early phase of SCI. Future treatments that aim to restore sensorimotor functions following SCI need to attend to these anatomical changes in the brain.