Figure 7.
Rates of recovery in autonomous weight-supported hindlimb stepping (%WSS) with training were different among groups. A, The rates of %WSS recovery (mean ± SE), as determined by the mean regression slopes of the %WSS recovery trends per group, were significantly different among groups (one-way ANOVA comparison of the %WSS regression slopes among groups, F(2,15) = 26.73, ***p < 0.001). Post hoc tests showed that the rate of %WSS recovery for the TWS group was significantly greater than both the NTWS (***p < 0.001) and WS groups (**p = 0.005); however, the rate of %WSS recovery for the NTWS and WS groups were not different (p = 0.87). This observation is consistent with the accelerated %WSS improvement seen in the TWS group that facilitated transition from a non–weight-supporting classification to a weight-supporting classification with training. B, Relationship between rate of %WSS recovery and %WSS before training. There was a significant linear relationship between the WSS level at outset and rate of WSS improvement for the combined initially non–weight-supporting rats (i.e., NTWS and TWS groups together) (R2 = 0.726, ****p < 0.0001). However, the WS group formed a separated cluster of rates, far from the rest as indicated by the break in the abscissa from 30% to 45%.