Fig. 1

The experimental design, SCI modeling, and coordinated hindlimb functional changes. A The time course of major experimental procedures comprised a brief habituation, T10 compression and postsurgical care, and behavioral evaluations performed weekly for 8 weeks. B Left: this schematic diagram illustrated the surgery setting of T10 moderate quasi-static compression (35 g × 5 min). Middle: a zoomed in presentation of the compression injury epicenter. Right: the contents of the performed behavioral tests. C The day 1 and weekly post-injury (p.i.) group average BBB locomotor scores of the SCI rats (red) versus those of the laminectomy control animals (blue) showed significant locomotion deficits resulting from SCI. D Left: the inclined plane test was done with rats facing downward. Right: compared to the laminectomy sham surgery, T10 compression resulted in significantly reduced group mean maximum angle where the animals could hold their position steady for 5 s (for both BBB and incline plan tests: *p < 0.05 to < 0.001; two-way repeated measures ANOVA with Sidak’s post hoc test; n = 12/SCI group; n = 10/laminectomy control group)