Reprogramming the motor cortex for functional recovery after neonatal or adult unilateral lesion of the corticospinal system in the macaque monkey

This chapter describes the mechanisms underlying reprogramming of the motor cortex in order to rehabilitate some motor control after a lesion affecting the central nervous system, namely the cerebral cortex or the cervical spinal cord. The corticospinal projection was chosen as a model to address the issue of reprogramming the cerebral cortex following a lesion occurring either at early (neonatal) or late (adult) stages. Reprogramming the motor cortex is used to refer to the re-establishment of functional control on motoneurons deprived of cortical inputs as a result of cortical or cervical lesion.