Challenges and opportunities of sensory plasticity after SCI

Abstract

Even in cases of spinal cord injury (SCI) where sensory perceptions do not arise from stimuli applied to below-level regions, sensory input to the spinal cord, carried by spinal sensory afferents, still occurs and influences the central and autonomic nervous systems (CNS, ANS). This is true also of the vagal system which provides non-spinal innervation of viscera below many spinal cord injuries. It is therefore important to consider (1) how the neurochemical, anatomical, and electrophysiological properties of these sensory neurons, and the processing of the inputs by the CNS and ANS, is altered by SCI, (2) whether and how they may play a role in pathologies, and (3) how they may interact with treatment strategies. This Research Topic addresses plasticity of sensory systems after SCI, with a non-exclusive focus on systems below the level of the injury. © 2013 Petruska, Hubscher and Rabchevsky.