Experimental timeline. Following six or more weeks of reach training, rats received a severe lateralized contusion injury to the cervical spinal cord. Chronic intraspinal stimulating electrodes were implanted caudal to the injury three weeks later. Beginning 4 weeks after injury, therapeutic intraspinal microstimulation (tISMS) was delivered for 7 hours/day, 5 days/week for the following 12 weeks. Control animals received identical injuries, spinal stimulation implants, and reach training, but stimulation was only applied very briefly in order to test motor thresholds of intraspinal microwires.