Fig. 3

Dorsal column somatosensory functional deficits from T10 hemicontusion spinal cord injury is reversed by red light treatment. a Schematic of experimental paradigm for evaluating somatosensory (dorsal column pathway) functional integrity illustrating left and right dorsal column pathways (grey), T10 hemicontusion injury on right side, stimulation of sural nerves and location of recording electrode on midline of gracile nucleus. The same electrode position on the midline acquires somatosensory responses independently evoked from both left and right sural nerves, enabling direct comparable quantification of sensory pathways on both sides. Examples of responses (between 5 and 15 ms post-stimulus; 500–3350 Hz bandpass) evoked from left and right sides shown for respective groups (colour-coded as per legend in c and Fig. 2). Arrowheads indicate latency of response onset. b Quantification (integral of rectified signals) of gracile nucleus response magnitudes (right expressed as a percent of left). c Difference in latencies of evoked responses between left and right sides. Note magnitudes and latencies from intact animals are equal on both sides (control group). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01, Student’s t test, Tukey’s post hoc in c