Abstract: Following central nervous system injury, axonal sprouts form distal to the injury site and extend into the denervated area, reconstructing neural circuits through neural plasticity. How to facilitate this plasticity has become the key to the success of central nervous system repair. It remains controversial whether fne motor skill training contributes to the recovery of neurological function afer spinal cord injury. Terefore, we established a rat model of unilateral corticospinal tract injury using a pyramidal tract cutting method. Horizontal ladder crawling and food ball grasping training procedures were conducted 2 weeks before injury and 3 days afer injury. Te neurological function of rat forelimbs was assessed at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 weeks afer injury. Axon growth was observed with biotinylated dextran amine anterograde tracing in the healthy corticospinal tract of the denervated area at different time periods. Our results demonstrate that compared with untrained rats, functional recovery was better in the forelimbs and forepaws of trained rats. Te number of axons and the expression of growth associated protein 43 were increased at the injury site 3 weeks afer corticospinal tract injury. Tese fndings confrm that fne motor skill training promotes central nervous system plasticity in spinal cord injury rats.

Key words: nerve regeneration, spinal cord injury, plasticity, axons, functional training, corticospinal tract, growth associated protein 43, neural regeneration