{"doi":"10.1101/2024.12.09.627519","title":"Soleus H-Reflex Up-Conditioning during Sciatic Nerve Regeneration in Rats Improves Recovery of Locomotion","abstract":"Operant conditioning of the spinal stretch reflex or its electrical analog, the H-reflex, induces plasticity in the brain and spinal cord that increases (up-conditioning) or decreases (down-conditioning) the reflex elicited by primary afferent input to the spinal motoneuron. In rats in which the sciatic nerve is transected and repaired, soleus (SOL) H-reflex up-conditioning during regeneration strengthens primary afferent reinnervation of SOL motoneurons and improves recovery of the SOL H-reflex. This suggests that H-reflex up-conditioning could improve functional recovery after nerve injury and repair. To explore this possibility, we examined the impact of SOL H-reflex up- or down-conditioning during sciatic regeneration on recovery of locomotor symmetry. Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with EMG electrodes in right SOL and a stimulating cuff on right posterior tibial nerve. After control data collection, right sciatic nerve was transected and repaired. Control EMG and H-reflex data collection continued for 20 more days. The rat was then exposed for 100 days to either: continued control data collection; SOL H-reflex up-conditioning; or SOL H-reflex down-conditioning. Locomotor EMG, H-reflex, and kinematics were assessed before nerve transection and 120 days after transection. H-reflex up-conditioning improved H-reflex recovery and also restored right/left step symmetry. H-reflex down-conditioning did not worsen H-reflex recovery or right/left step asymmetry. These results suggest that H-reflex up-conditioning might enhance functional recovery after nerve injury in humans. They also confirm previous results indicating that compensatory plasticity prevents inappropriate H-reflex conditioning (i.e., down-conditioning) from further impairing function.","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2024,"id":507678,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9543,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2024-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1359110,"name":"Yu Wang","orcid":"0000-0001-5665-3164","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":479645,"name":"Lu Chen","orcid":"0000-0002-8097-2699","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1359111,"name":"Xinxin Yang","orcid":"0000-0002-6866-110X","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":537153,"name":"Darren E. Gemoets","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":610887,"name":"Jonathan S. Carp","orcid":"0000-0002-9430-0711","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":611331,"name":"Xiang Yang Chen","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":473804,"name":"Jonathan R. Wolpaw","orcid":"0000-0003-0805-1315","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":315219,"name":"Yi Chen","orcid":"0000-0002-5180-3490","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":65,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:11:02.460057Z","pmid":"40631073","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}