1. Repair of the damaged corticospinal system in adult animals:
Using a wide range of methods—including chronic and acute electrophysiology, viral tracing, optogenetics, molecular genetics, molecular biology, behavioral testing modeling—we study ways to promote corticospinal tract axonal sprouting in damaged and spared corticospinal tracts after several different kinds of injury models.
To harness activity-dependent processes to promote corticospinal axon sprouting.
To elucidate the molecular changes in corticospinal neurons in response to stimulation that promotes axon sprouting.
To study the mechanism of synaptic competition in shaping the response of CST axons, proprioceptive afferents, and other spinal inputs after injury.
To promote motor function after spinal cord injury
2. Leveraging developmental genetics to promote function after corticospinal tract injury:
We are examining ways to promote novel connections between motor cortex and spinal neurons to restore function after injury
To use cortical neuromodulatory approaches to activate axon growth signaling in corticospinal tract axon to augment axonal outgrowth.
To harness genetic mechanisms to direct sprouting axons to particular spinal neuron classes
3. Spinal neuromodulation to promote motor circuit excitability and prevent interneuron degeneration:
Particular classes of spinal interneurons experience trans-neuronal degeneration after corticospinal tract injury or the loss of corticospinal tract activity. We are examining ways to abrogate this cell loss, to maintain the integrity of motor cortex-to-muscle signal transmission.
