Neurocontrol of upper motor neurone muscle paralysis

An attempt was made to describe upper motor neurone dysfunctions on the basis of changes in volitional activity, the effects of reinforcement maneuvers on motor units and sustained and unsustained characteristics of segmental reflexes. According to the above criteria, patients with paralysis due to established spinal cord injury can be divided into groups with clinical and subclinical paralysis, clinical paralysis with subclinical evidence of residual suprasegmental motor control, and clinically incomplete paralysis with a subclinical variety of neurocontrol patterns of motor activities. This categorization of paralysis according to neurocontrol criteria is opening new avenues to the use of residual motor activity for the modification of abnormal motor control by peripheral nerve stimulation and spinal cord stimulation procedures for the alteration of upper motor neurone dysfunctions.