Publisher's Synopsis
The third volume in a series on spinal cord dysfunction, this book brings together work on functional stimulation of the nervous system. The adult nervous system is capable of change and is not a rigid and immutable structure laid down at birth. Functional stimulation may be used to supplement or replace lost or impaired function by stimulation of a nerve cell or muscle, and may also be used to alter the activity of neural pathways. Central alteration may be electrical or pharmacological. The techniques are not destructive, may produce long-lasting changes, and tell us about the way in which the nervous system functions, as well as producing relief in chronic intractible pain and chronic neurological conditions.;This volume looks at restoration of function after spinal cord damage from the point of view of identification of impaired or absent function in nerve cells and processes which survive after the initial insult, intact but with impaired function. The theoretical premise that part of the neurological deficit produced by a lesion is due to altered function in the intact nervous system is examined and the effect of peripheral and central functional stimulation is described. The first part of the book deals with theoretical, experimental and mathematical aspects. The second and third parts are concerned with peripheral and central functional stimulation. The volume concludes with pharmacological modulation.
