Intensive, activity-based rehabilitation therapy can lead to significant functional improvements in patients with spinal cord injuries. New research, based on studies from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network (NRN), shows that recovery of walking and balance can occur even years after injury in people with incomplete spinal cord injury who participate in locomotor training.

The new research comprises 11 peer-reviewed studies published in the September 2012 issue of Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Using rigorous evaluation and analysis, data from 296 spinal cord injury (SCI) patients at seven centers across the country suggest that locomotor training can be part of the reparative process after spinal cord injury and promotes improvements in the neuromuscular system. Rehabilitation is more than just compensatory -- it is part of the repair process.

Locomotor training is an intensive, activity-based intervention therapy that seeks to re-train the nervous system by simulating stepping and walking. The training is applied across the three training environments: step training using body weight support on a treadmill (BWST) and manual assistance; over-ground walking training; and community ambulation training. Sensory information from the legs and trunk during walking is sent to the spinal cord, which can initiate functional movement. 

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