PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - M Devor
AU  - PD Wall
TI  - Plasticity in the spinal cord sensory map following peripheral nerve injury in rats
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.01-07-00679.1981
DP  - 1981 Jul 01
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 679--684
VI  - 1
IP  - 7
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/1/7/679.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/1/7/679.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.1981 Jul 01; 1
AB  - The medial part of the L4 and 5 dorsal horn in adult rats is dominated by afferents from the toes and foot. After transection of the sciatic and saphenous nerves, virtually all cells in this region are left without any peripheral receptive field. Beginning 4 to 5 days after nerve section, however, many peripherally deafferented cells take on a novel receptive field on the thigh, lower back, or perineum. The new receptive fields are served by intact nerves ending in proximal skin rather than by misdirected sprouts of cut toe-foot nerves. Thus, peripheral axotomy results in synaptic reorganization in the spinal cord proper. Receptive field reorganization occurs after nerve transection, ligation, or ligation with distal transection but does not occur if the nerve is crushed. If a cut nerve is sutured and regeneration is permitted, spinal reorganization is reversed and the toe-foot afferents regain exclusive dominance of the medial dorsal horn.