Séminaire de Frederic Bretzner

Friday May 26, 2023, 14h30 – Salle Henri Gastaut, INT

Frederic Bretzner (Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec Université Laval)
invited by Frédéric Brocard

Genetic dissection of brainstem circuits pertaining to motor control and recovery of walking after spinal cord injury

Abstract: Spinal cord injury interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the spinal cord. The spinal cord contains all the circuitry necessary and sufficient to generate locomotion. However, in the absence of descending inputs from the brain, patients with spinal cord injury cannot walk again. Interestingly, most spinal cord injuries are incomplete, thus opening the possibility of using neuro-prosthetic approaches to target spared neuronal pathways to promote functional motor recovery. In this presentation, I will talk about our recent studies investigating the functional contribution of the brainstem in motor control and recovery. Combining kinematic and electrophysiological recordings with optogenetic or genetic manipulations in freely behaving mice, I will show which and how genetically identified neuronal populations of midbrain and medullary nuclei initiate, modulate, and stop locomotion in normal conditions and how their stimulation can improve functional recovery of walking after spinal cord injury.