Prof. Dr. Grégoire Courtine

 

Main Goals, Keywords

Develop neurorehabilitation interventions to improve rehabilitative procedures for individuals suffering from neuromotor disorders such as spinal cord injury, implantable high-density electrode array, pharmacological aids, improve recovery of function following neuromotor disorders, understand neural mechanisms underlying alteration and recovery of function following neuromotor disorders, fluorescent tract-tracing, immunohistochemistry, uncover the organization of the spinal motor infrastructure that controls locomotion, EMG, kinematic, kinetic, electrophysiology.

Group Members

5 postdoctoral fellows, 7 PhD students, 2 research assistants, 2 technicians

Previous and Current Research

We have developed neurorehabiltiation interventions to enable weight bearing plantar stepping during rehabilitation following complete transection of the spinal cord in adult rats. The so-called stepping-enabling neurorehabilitative interventions include a synergistic combination of electrical spinal cord stimulation paradigms and administration of monoamine agonists. In turn chronic body weight supported step training under such interventions can promote improvements of stepping capacities, thus offering promises for patients with chronic paralysis. We also investigated the mechanisms of spontaneous recovery following incomplete injury of the spinal cord in mice, rats and monkeys, as well as the potential of nerve growth promoting interventions (BDNF, NT3, antibodies against NOGO-A) to enhance functional recovery.

Future Projects

We are working on improving neurorehabilitative interventions with the use of chronically-implantable high-density electrode array that will allow to stimulate multi yet specific loci throughout the extent of the lumbosacral spinal cord. We also focus on establishing optimal pharmacological combinations to enable locomotion during step training procedures. We are evaluating the capacity of stepping-enabling interventions to improve motor functions after clinically relevant severe spinal cord injury. Finally, we seek to understand the mechanisms involved in the production of locomotion, the facilitation of stepping with electrical stimulation, and the reorganization of spinal circuitries and sensorimotor pathways with training after spinal cord injury.

Techniques and Equipment

• Real-time recording of kinematic, kinetic EMG data
• Chronic implantation of muscles for EMG recordings in monkeys, rats and mice
• Chronic implantation of spinal cord electrodes and cortical microwires
• Robotic weight support system for training and testing of balance impaired rats and mice
• Electrophysiology
• Fluorescent neuronal and tract tracing
• Immunohistochemistry

Selected Publications

• Courtine, G., Gerasimenko, Y., van den Brand, R., Yew, A., Musienko, P., Zhong, H., Song, B., Ao, Y., Ichiyama, R.M., Lavrov, I., et al. Transformation of nonfunctional spinal circuits into functional states after the loss of brain input. Nat Neurosci 12, 1333-1342 (2009).
• Courtine, G., Song, B., Roy, R.R., Zhong, H., Herrmann, J.E., Ao, Y., Qi, J., Edgerton, V.R., Sofroniew, M.V. Recovery of supraspinal control of stepping via indirect propriospinal relay connections after spinal cord injury. Nat Med 14, 69-74 (2008).
• Courtine, G., Bunge, M.B., Fawcett, J.W., Grossman, R.G., Kaas, J.H., Lemon, R., Maier, I., Martin, J., Nudo, R.J., Ramon-Cueto, A., et al. Can experiments in nonhuman primates expedite the translation of treatments for spinal cord injury in humans? Nat Med 13, 561-566 (2007).

Funding

NCCR Neural plasticity and repair, Swiss National Science Foundation, International Foundations for Research in Paraplegia, Eurasmus Mundus Program, FP7 of the European Union.