Future Studies By understanding the role of the human spinal cord in the generation of human locomotion, principles and strategies can be developed to retrain the human nervous system for the task of locomotion after an SCI. Future studies to discern the critical sensory information that can be interpreted and integrated by the human
spinal cord should provide important information in designing rehabilitation strategies and assistive devices. Whether locomotor training can improve recovery after human SCI as compared with conventional therapy should be evaluated in a randomized clinical trial. The impact of locomotor training on the quality of life and the degree of handicap in individuals after an SCI should be addressed. The application of locomotor training to other neurologic deficits associated with stroke,71,72 cerebral palsy, Parkinson disease, and brain injury should be explored. If the spinal cord has a critical role in locomotion and can relearn to execute stepping with training driven by afferent information, and if supraspinal centers can also reorganize, then these approaches can potentially have a dramatic impact on the recovery of walking after neurologic injury.