What does the spinal cord know, and how much of that knowledge can we carry forward after injury?
The Stecina Lab studies how spinal neural networks organize movement and function. We work to discover fundamental mechanisms experimentally and determine how those mechanisms can be tested across accumulated data, computational models, and human physiology.
Understand the circuit
Fundamental spinal mechanisms, reflex organization, sensorimotor circuits, neuromodulation, and postural/locomotor control.
Do thoracic cholinergic interneurons shape postural drive independently of locomotor rhythm?
This foundational work investigates how specialized neuronal populations in thoracic segments integrate sensory input and coordinate trunk control with rhythmic movement.
FIG. 01 — Timing dynamics & synaptic integration
Learn from the data
Using accumulated experimental recordings and physiological data to identify candidate patterns, hypotheses, and circuits worth carrying forward.
What can approximately twenty years of fictive locomotion recordings tell us about which spinal circuits are worth investigating next?
By re-analyzing long-standing experimental archives computationally, we seek to extract new insights from past recordings to guide future experimental design.
FIG. 02 — Fictive locomotion recording archives & pattern analysis
Test it in people
Connecting mechanisms identified experimentally with measurable human physiology and function in spinal cord injury.
Does a trunk-control circuit identified experimentally also respond to transcutaneous stimulation in people with mid-thoracic spinal cord injury?
This translational work examines non-invasive stimulation, electromyography (EMG), posturography, and seated posture control to evaluate how spinal circuits respond in human participants.
FIG. 03 — Kinematic trajectories & human posturography
Measure recovery
Developing better ways to understand how motor, sensory, and autonomic function change over time following spinal cord injury.
What changes, and in what order, across motor, sensory, and autonomic measures during the first years after injury?
A developing infrastructure concept to establish shared measurement capabilities for tracking longitudinal functional changes across multiple physiological systems.
FIG. 04 — Longitudinal recovery & multi-system functional mapping
Observe and characterize what spinal networks do.
Functional mapping of spinal circuits, reflex organization, and accumulated recording archives.
Challenge or test mechanisms experimentally.
Evaluating targeted stimulation, postural responses, and physiological feedback in experimental models and human participants.
Determine what remains meaningful across systems.
Identifying which findings hold true across data, models, and human physiology to better understand recovery after injury.
The new questions come from a long record of older ones.
Subprimary range of firing in spinal motoneurons
Motor output generation & cellular excitability
Serotonin and locomotion via 5-HT₇ receptors
Brainstem-spinal interaction & neuromodulation
Respiratory and locomotor drive interaction
Spinal reflex organization & multi-system coordination
CIHR · NSERC · Research Manitoba · Spinal Cord Research Centre · Innovation Canada
Spinal Cord Physiology Lab — specializing in neurostimulation, balance & motor-control, and motion-analysis infrastructure.
Interested in collaborating, participating, or joining the lab?