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The idea is to preserve nerve connections as much as possible, so that people can rehabilitate more easily and breathe more freely.
Streeter’s team is focusing its attention on ways to reduce inflammation after injury and minimize permanent tissue damage. Inspired by past research that Streeter conducted on the African spiny mouse, famous for its ability to heal without any scars, her team is investigating a supplement to be taken after an injury.
Damage control Shortly after a spinal cord injury, tissues become inflamed as the body begins its healing process. But excess inflammation can cause bigger problems down the road, such as scarring and permanent damage that prevent nerve connections from ever regaining function.
Dr. Kristi Streeter’s research targets the neural feedback loop between brain and diaphragm, using neural plasticity to improve post-injury breathing. B Y J E N N I F E R WA LT E R , C O M M ’ 1 9
The Target: Better Breathing After Spinal Cord Injuries
H E A LT H S C I E N C E S
But after a spinal cord injury, breathing can become perilous. If damage is severe and too high in the spinal cord (above the phrenic nerves), a person may require assistance from a ventilator to breathe. An injury not as severe and not as high in the neck may cause other breathing-related problems like shallow, rapid breathing and reduced ability to cough, which contributes to infections such as pneumonia. In these latter cases, the functioning of this neural superhighway isn’t necessarily static, however, and can even be strengthened. To that end, Streeter and her team focus on the phrenic nerves, studying the microscopic connections between nerve cells and how they transmit signals between the brain, diaphragm and back again.
Damaged connections Every breath begins with a message from the brain. It’s carried through the phrenic nerves, which depart the spine in the neck, run on either side of the body and connect to the diaphragm. The diaphragm receives the message to contract and then relaxes, completing one breath — then another, and another, in a process that feels automatic for most people.
Dr. Kristi Streeter has a simple but monumental goal: to help people with spinal cord injuries breathe better. In her lab at the College of Health Sciences, the assistant professor of physical therapy dives deep into the nervous system superhighways that control one of the body’s most basic needs. With a recently awarded $420,000 grant and diversity supplement from the Neilsen Foundation, she is building on research conducted over the past few years under a $747,000 R00 grant from the National Institutes of Health. Using cutting-edge technology to reveal the workings of interventions that promote improved function of these neural pathways, Streeter works to paint a clearer picture of how the nervous system communicates — and how it can heal.