Spinal interneurons and breathing

V2a neurons restore diaphragm function in mice following spinal cord injury

“…Plasticity within neural circuits is thought to be a major contributor to the recovery of motor function following spinal cord injury, including improvements in breathing ( 4 – 8 ). For example, changes in the function or connectivity of propriospinal or reticulospinal circuits are thought to contribute to improved motor function at both acute and chronic stages of injury ( 9 – 17 ).…”

“…In addition, spontaneous recovery of diaphragm function can occur weeks after injury which contributes significantly to ventilation across different levels of respiratory drive strength ( 42 ). Spontaneous recovery may be due to changes in connections between the brainstem and phrenic motor neurons, altered excitability of phrenic motor neurons, or changes in spared propriospinal circuits ( 4 – 8 , 16 , 17 , 43 , 44 ). Mechanical ventilation is often required in patients with cervical spinal cord injuries because spared bulbospinal pathways are insufficient to maintain adequate breathing ( 1 , 2 , 45 , 46 ).…”