# Rehabilitation from Spinal Cord Injury Using Targeted, Activity-Dependent Intraspinal Stimulation

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2024 · $515,278

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The objective of the proposed project is to continue the laboratory’s development of a
neuroprosthetic therapy that uses targeted, activity-dependent spinal stimulation to improve arm
and hand motor recovery after cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). The project seeks to advance
clinical practice through the use of brain-computer-interface technology to harness physiological
mechanisms of neural plasticity.
 Motor deficits severely impact the quality of life of people with SCI, yet current treatments
produce limited improvements in movement abilities. Recent clinical and experimental evidence
suggests that electrical stimulation of the nervous system can be an effective therapy for a
variety of neurological disorders. Here we will extend study of a novel application of electrical
stimulation for rehabilitation of forelimb motor deficits in a rat model of cervical SCI. The strategy
is designed to enhance the function of spared neural pathways by directing Hebbian plasticity
through targeted stimulation of volitionally activated neural circuits. Results will lay the
foundation for a future clinical trial using spinal stimulation in human subjects.
 Previous data demonstrated the effectiveness of multi-channel, intraspinal stimulation
triggered by activity of forelimb muscles to improve motor performance in rats with chronic SCI.
Specific Aim 1 seeks to complete the characterization of the interplay between stimulation and
physical rehabilitation in order to establish principles for combining the therapies. Specific Aim 2
will examine possible causes underlying dramatic differences in recovery in female and male
rats treated with the closed-loop stimulation. Specific Aim 3 will determine if activity-dependent
epidural stimulation, a much less invasive and easier to translate to clinical practice approach
than intraspinal stimulation, is as effective in facilitating recovery.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10897318
- **Project number:** 5R01NS099872-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Steve I Perlmutter
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $515,278
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-08-15 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10897318

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10897318, Rehabilitation from Spinal Cord Injury Using Targeted, Activity-Dependent Intraspinal Stimulation (5R01NS099872-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10897318. Licensed CC0.

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