Hi everybody! This is week three of my internship at the Fraizer Rehab Facility in Louisville Kentucky. This week I read many more case studies discussing the importance of central pattern generators in the body. There are two central pattern generators in the human body, one is called the cervical enlargement, and the other is called the lumbar sacral enlargement. These names also give away their location in the spine. The spinal cord has hundreds of nerves running through it. These specific spots on the spinal cord are called enlargements because they hold more nerves bundles than the rest of the spinal cord, which allows them to create or pick up on patterns like walking, swimming hopping. Once they have these patterns down, they are then able to carry out these movements, without relying heavily on input from the brain. This is a very important concept for people who have a spinal cord injury due to the fact that patients with an SCI normally lack the ability for their brain to send a signal that will reach below the area of injury. If we can, in some way, make the CPG remember those patterns it knew before the injury, then the patient has potential to regain the ability to walk or move in that certain way again. Now this is not a garentee and of course it all depends upon the severity and location of the injury. But it was very intriguing to learn about how smart the human body truely is.
This week I also got to observe many other research studies that involved the gravity neutral position along with the stimulus that I discussed in last week’s blog. These are always fun to attend because of the friendly environment here in the facility and the patient’s eagerness to participate in each study. I also continued attending physical and occupational therapy session for the same patient that I have been observing for the past two weeks. This observation time along with extra research will eventually lead me to the point where I will be able to complete a timeline of this patient’s medical history and how their spinal cord injury has progressed over the time that they have been receiving activity based therapy here at Frazier.
Over the weekend, my host family took me to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Facory, where we got to learn about the history of famous baseball players and tour the factory where they make bats. This was a very fun experience! Then we took a quick stop into one of the super fancy hotels down Main Street that is also an art gallery. There were so many unique things to see here. My host family has also taken me out to eat multiple times during my stay here, which I am so grateful for. There are so many different types of restaurants with so many unique flavors. I love the diverse community here in Kentucky!
All in all it was another great week, and I am so excited for what this coming week has in store!
to say I am proud of you is an understatement!