Dr. Aiko K. Thompson
Associate Professor
Department of Health Sciences and Research, College of Health Professions
Medical University of South Carolina, USA

Title: Operant Conditioning of EMG Evoked potentials to Improve Locomotion in People with Chronic CNS lesions

Abstract: After central nervous system (CNS) lesions, such as spinal cord injury, stroke, and multiple sclerosis, people often suffer spastic movement disorders, weak voluntary muscle activation, and poor muscle control, even after completing conventional therapy. Abnormal spinal reflex activity often contributes to these problems. Operant conditioning of spinal reflexes, which can target plasticity to specific reflex pathways, can enhance recovery. In people with hyperreflexia due to chronic incomplete spinal cord injury, down-conditioning of the soleus H-reflex improved walking speed and symmetry. Furthermore, modulation of electromyographic activity during walking improved bilaterally, indicating that a protocol that targets plasticity to a specific pathway can trigger widespread plasticity that improves recovery far beyond that attributable to the change in the targeted pathway. Preliminary studies suggest that operant conditioning of other spinal reflexes or corticospinal connections may also improve locomotion in people after spinal cord injury or other CNS lesions. It should also be possible to design conditioning protocols that complement existing therapeutic methods, such as locomotor training and constraint-induced movement therapy, in order to maximize functional recovery.

Short CV:

Dr. Thompson is an Associate Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. She received her Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience from the University of Alberta, Canada in 2005. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the Wadsworth Center, USA from 2005 to 2007. Her long-term research goals are to understand plasticity of the central nervous system (CNS) as it relates to motor control, and to learn how to guide that plasticity to help restore useful function in people after CNS damage. Her current research focuses on investigating functional roles of spinal reflexes during dynamic motion and evaluating the CNS plasticity associated with changing EMG evoked responses (e.g., spinal reflexes and motor evoked potential to transcranial magnetic stimulation) in people with and without CNS damage.