Artificial gait in complete spinal cord injured subjects: how to assess clinical performance.

Objective: Adapt the 6 minutes walking test (6MWT) to artificial gait in complete spinal cord injured (SCI) patients aided by neuromuscular electrical stimulation.

Method: Nine male individuals with paraplegia (AIS A) participated in this study. Lesion levels varied between T4 and T12 and time post injured from 4 to 13 years.

Attenuated pressor responses to amino acids in the rostral ventrolateral medulla after swimming training in conscious rats.

The cardiovascular effects of microinjection of the amino acids glutamate and glycine within the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) after swimming training (ST) in unrestrained awake rats were investigated. Unilateral microinjection of l-glutamate (5, 20 and 50 mM, in 100 nl) produced a dose dependent increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) in control (C) (16+/-5 mm Hg; 29+/-6 mm Hg; 43+/-6 mm Hg) and swim (SW) (1+/-1 mm Hg; 16+/-2 mm Hg; 25+/-3 mm Hg) groups. However, the magnitude of this response was lower in the swim group.