NeuroRecovery Network

The NeuroRecovery Network (NRN) is a grant program created through a joint agreement between the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (CDRF) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Network serves to provide support for the translation of basic science and applied research into an intensive activity-based rehabilitation program that will promote the recovery of walking and motor function. Through the establishment of the Network, specialized centers with physical therapists skilled in the application of locomotor training principles have been created.

The primary focus of the NeuroRecovery Network is to support programs that provide the therapeutic activity-based intervention known as locomotor training. Long-term goals of the NRN 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
• Maintaining an administrative network that can supply logistical, technical, and personnel-based support for rehabilitation programs.

NeuroRecovery Network Sites:

• Frazier Rehab Institute, Louisville, KY (Lead Center)
• Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Shepherd Center, Atlanta, Georgia
• The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR), Houston, Texas

Frazier Rehab Institute NRN Clinic

Frazier Rehab Institute continues its commitment to excellence in rehab medicine through advancements in the area of spinal cord injury treatments. Through a collaborative partnership between Frazier Rehab Institute and the University of Louisville, Susan Harkema, PhD has relocated her Human Locomotion Research Program to Louisville. This partnership has formed the Neuroscience Collaborative Center and established Frazier as the lead center in the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation’s NeuroRecovery Network.

Rehabilitation aids many patients in the recovery of injuries. For many years, patients at Frazier Rehab Institute have used rehabilitation to regain function and maintain the bone and muscle mass necessary for vital function. But now, patients with certain kinds of spinal cord injuries have access to the latest in advanced rehab medicine including the use of new strategies to retrain the nervous system. The work of Dr. Harkema and her colleagues has lead to the development of Locomotor Training, an activity-based intervention for patients with spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders. This intervention re-teaches walking through the use of appropriate sensory cues that can be recognized by the neural circuitry of the spinal cord for the promotion of better muscle patterns for walking.

Locomotor Training has three components:

1. Step Training utilizes body weight support and the treadmill system in combination with manual assistance provided by specially trained physical therapists to promote walking at normal walking speed. Training principles are utilized in this component to help the nervous system relearn motor patterns associated with walking.
2. Overground Walking Training takes the nervous system’s new capacity to the overground environment. In this setting, specific limitations to independent walking including gait deviations are addressed.
3. Community Ambulation Training implements principles that will help patients meet the overall goal of the program: safe and effective ambulation in the home and community.

In addition to improving mobility in certain patients, locomotor training has been shown to enhance the overall health of patients. Potential benefits include improving cardiovascular and pulmonary functioning, promoting the strength and healing-potential of skin, increasing blood flow to the upper and lower extremities, increasing bone density, and improving bowel and bladder functioning. Improvements in emotional and psychological well-being have also been noted.

For more information about the NeuroRecovery Network or the Locomotor Training Program contact us at (502) 560-8389 or 1-866-540-7719.