Table 1.

The preclinical and clinical study of DBS in SCI.

Study	Study details	Brain target	Physiological changes	Functional changes	Stimulation parameters	Analysis methods for mechanisms
Carmel et al. (81)	Preclinical study: female rat (225–275 g; n = 10)	Unilaterally-M1 [B:2 mm /3.5 mm]	DBS induced CST axon terminations outgrowth in the ipsilateral spinal cord	DBS improve skilled motor performance following a unilateral SCI	333 Hz,0.2 ms duration, 6 h daily for 10 d	Behavioral testing; neural tracer technology; stereological analysis; regional axon length analysis
Hentall et al. (29)	Preclinical study: female rat (250–275 g; n = 64) T8 SCI	Midline-NRM [caudal: 2.3 mm, ventral: 0 mm] R-PAG [ML: 0.7 mm, rostral: 1.2 mm, above the interaural line:4 mm]	DBS (NRM or PAG) promoted the recovery of myelinated axons in perilesional white matter	DBS improve sensory, motor and anatomical recovery following incomplete SCI	8 Hz,1 ms,30 μA 12 h daily over 4–7 days	Behavioral testing; histological analysis
Bachmann et al. (25)	Preclinical study: female rat (220–250 g) T10 SCI	Unilaterally-MLR [B: −7.80 mm, L: +2.00 mm, D: −5.80 mm/0°]	DBS (MLR) activated the supraspinal motor control pathway from the medial brainstem to the lumbar spinal cord	DBS improved the residual locomotor performance after severe SCI	25,50,75 and 100 Hz,0.5 ms Awake animals: 50 Hz, 0.5 ms	Behavioral testing; neural tracer technology; EMG recordings
Noga et al. (44)	Preclinical study: female rat (240–350 g; n = 28) T9 SCI	L-MLR [AP:0.7–1.2 mm, ML:2.0 mm, DV:6.2 mm]	DBS (MLR) promoted the presence of theta rhythms in LFPs	DBS improved the locomotion after SCI.	10–70 Hz (10, 20, 50 and 70 Hz),0.2, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 ms	Behavioral testing; EMG recordings; immunohistochemistry
Wang et al. (30)	Preclinical study: male rat (250–300 g; n = 36) T10 SCI.	B-MLR [AP: −7.8 mm, ML: +2.0 mm, DV: −5.0 mm]	DBS improves synaptic plasticity by targeting BDNF, and mTOR	DBS improved hindlimb motor function in SCI rats	100 Hz, 0.5 ms half an hour per day for4 weeks.	Behavioral testing; western blot
Bonizzato et al. (72)	Preclinical study: female rat (200–220 g) T8 SCI.	L-PPN [AP: −7.9 mm ± 0.05, DV: −6.5 mm, ML: 2 mm]	DBS promotes the reconstruction of the remaining motor circuit	DBS promoted the SCI rats volitional walking	40 Hz, 200 μs, 50–250 μA 5 days/week 30 min /day	Immunohistochemistry; neuromorphological evaluation; electrophysiology
Hofer et al. (31)	Preclinical study: female rat (220–250 g; n = 127) T10 SCI	L-CNF [AP: −7.8 mm, DV: −5.1 to −5.5 mm, ML: +2.0 mm]	DBS activated spared descending brainstem fibres	DBS improves motor recovery in the subchronic and chronic SCI phases.	50 Hz, 0.5 ms	Behavioral testing; histological analysis; neural tracer technology
Spooner et al. (82)	Clinical study: male patients (40 year; n = 1) C4 level spinal cord injury	R-PVG [AP: −8.2 mm, lateral: +4.2 mm, vertical: +1.1 mm] B-Cingula [20 mm]	The analgesic effect of DBS on bilateral cingulate gyrus is superior to that of PVG stimulation	DBS improves functional recovery in a complete spinal cord injury	PVG: 20 Hz Cingula: 130 Hz 1-week blinded stimulation trial prior	VAS evaluation

PVG, periventricular gray matter; CNF, cuneiform nucleus; PVG, periventricular gray matter; MLR, mesencephalic locomotor region; PPN, pedunculopontine nucleus; VAS, visual analog scale; B, bilateral; R, right; AP, antero-posterior; L, left; NS, no stimulation; ML, mediolateral; DV, dorsoventral; B, bregma; L, lambda; D, dura; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, mTOR, the mammalian target of rapamycin; LFPs, local field potentials.