Following Spinal Cord Injury Transected Reticulospinal Tract Axons Develop New Collateral Inputs to Spinal Interneurons in Parallel with Locomotor Recovery

Figure 3

STAG SCI severity was unaffected by the inclusion of a time delay between injuries. The sizes of the T7 and T10 (a) spinal lesions as a percent of the cross-sectional area were comparable between groups. The majority of animals did not have spared tissue in different regions of interest when the T7 and T10 lesions were overlayed (a). The whole cross-section (section), grey matter (GM), dorsal horn (DH), ventral horn (VH), white matter (WM), dorsolateral funiculus (DLF), and ventrolateral funiculus (VLF) were analyzed for sparing (b). Schematics of spinal cord segments encompassing the lesions from representative dSTAG and cSTAG animals (c). Lesioned areas are shaded dark grey. White matter is seen ventrally at the level of the T7 lesion, but the T10 injury encroaches on the contralateral hemicord in both animals. Overlays of the T7 and T10 injuries are shown below the block schematics. When the two injuries are overlapped, the completeness of the lesion becomes evident. Error bars represent the SEM.

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