Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 7, 2025
Author Spotlight: Using the MouseWalker to Quantify Locomotor Dysfunction in a Mouse Model of Spinal Cord Injury
Published on: March 24, 2023
The Neural Mechanisms Underlying Processing Speed Deficits in Individuals Who Have Sustained a Spinal Cord Injury: A
Glenn R Wylie1,2,3, Nancy D Chiaravalloti4,5, Erica Weber4
1Kessler Foundation, Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, 07052, USA. gwylie@kesslerfoundation.org.
Abstract:
Our objective was to determine differences in brain activation during a processing-speed task in individuals with SCI compared to a group of age-matched healthy controls and to a group of older healthy controls. Ten individuals with cervical SCI (C3-C5), 10 age-matched healthy controls and 10 older healthy controls participated in a cross-sectional study in which performance on neuropsychological tests of processing speed and brain activation were the main outcome measures. The brain areas used by the individuals with SCI during the processing-speed task differed significantly from the age-matched healthy controls, but were similar to the older control cohort, and included activation in frontal, parietal and hippocampal areas. This suggests that individuals with SCI may compensate for processing-speed deficits by relying on brain regions that classically support control cognitive processes such as executive control and memory.
