About this Research Topic
Injury and diseases of the spinal cord can cause partial or complete loss of the motor and sensory function. With advancements in neurotechnology, the population of individuals with paresis or complete limb paralysis who can benefit from rehabilitative neuroprosthetics is increasing steadily. While ongoing research efforts in this area have mostly focused on cortically controlled prosthetics and functional electrical stimulation of the skeletal muscle, the spinal cord has not received its due attention in the field. One of the reasons for scarcity of such studies in animal models is the difficulty in long term implantation of micro electrodes for acquiring the activity and modifying the function of the neural circuitry within the spinal cord. We intend to encourage through this research topic, an active discussion among electro-physiologists, computational neuroscientists and neural engineers involved in spinal cord research that will enhance our understanding of the spinal cord neural circuits and potentially lead to new neuroprosthetic ideas. This research topic aims to focus on the most recent developments and technologies in spinal cord neuroprosthetics with a tentative emphasis on intra-spinal recording and micro stimulation, new electrode technologies, signal processing methods, and computer models applicable within the spinal cord. We welcome researchers to contribute their original work as well as review articles relevant to the field that will open up communications between investigators for moving the field forward.
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