Two modes of cutaneous reinnervation following peripheral nerve injury

The return of sensation to the foot following sciatic nerve crush injury was analyzed behaviorally and electrophysiologically in the rat. Functional recovery begins within four days. Its early phase is accounted for by expansion of the functional distribution of intact neighboring fibers of the saphenous n. It occurs even if the sciatic n. is ligated, and it disappears with section of the saphenous n. Accompanying this functional expansion we began to encounter in electrophysiological recordings from the saphenous n., fibers with unusually large receptive fields (RF's) extending onto the plantar surface of the foot, well beyond their limits in intact rats. All of the expanded RF's were high threshold mechanoreceptors. On about the twentieth day after crushing, the regenerating sciatic n. began to make a functional contribution. This was seen by return of sensation to zones not invaded by the saphenous n. and by the onset of sensation in rats in which the saphenous n. had previously been ligated. With return of the sciatic n. the expanded distribution of the saphenous n. went back to its original boundaries. Correspondingly, we could no longer find expanded saphenous n. RF's. We conclude that cutaneous reinnervation begins with the collateral expansion of high threshold afferents from intact neighboring nerves. This alien innervation is later replaced upon regeneration of the original nerve.