Locomotor Training Program provides Magee’s outpatients with another innovative therapy to help in their rehabilitation

Not only is rehabilitation therapy vital for maintaining the general health of spinal cord injured individuals, but now evidence is accumulating that shows how vigorous repetitive exercise can exploit neural plasticity both above and below the injury site, leading to an improvement in walking and standing capacity. This type of locomotor training program may also effect changes at the molecular level, improving axon regeneration and neural communication.

The CRF has launched the NeuroRecovery Network grant program to provide support for the translation of basic science and applied research into intensive activity-based rehabilitation treatments. This will also include the establishment of specialized centers that provide standardized care based on current scientific and clinical evidence. The program is funded by a joint agreement between the CRF and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Initially the NeuroRecovery Network will support programs involving the therapeutic use of locomotor training using body weight support on a treadmill. The Network's longer-term goals include: maximizing the availability and quality of rehabilitative care for patients with spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders; developing a comprehensive database to track the success of activity-based therapeutic interventions; identifying the optimal locomotor training regimens for specific patient populations; and maintaining an administrative network that can supply logistical, technical, and personnel-based support for rehabilitation programs.

To read more about the Lococomotor Training Program, Click Here.

Click here to read the story on Locomotor Training as seen on Inside Edition with Debra Norville

For further information on the Locomotor Training Program, contact the Locomotor Training Clinic at  locomotorclinic@mageerehab.org  or 215-587-3431.

This program is funded by Grant/Cooperative Agreement Number U10/CCU220379 between CRF and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Members of the NeuroRecovery Network (as of January 2006):
The NeuroRecovery Network at Frazier Rehab Neuroscience Institute and the University of Louisville, KY, Lead Center
Director, Susan Harkema, PhD

The NeuroRecovery Network at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital
Philadelphia, PA
Director, Mary Schmidt, PT, MS

The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR)
Houston, TX
Director, Daniel E. Graves, PhD

Shepherd Ceter
Atlanta, GA
Director, Deborah Backus, PT, PhD

Advisory Board:
Moses V. Chao, PhD, Skirball Institute, New York University Medical Center
V. Reggie Edgerton, PhD, Departments of Physiological Science and Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles
Michael Fehlings, MD, PhD, The Toronto Western Research Institute
Andrei Krassioukov, MD, PhD, ICORD, University of British Columbia
Shelley Sorani, MA, San Francisco, CA