Serotonergic agents can improve the recovery of motor ability after a spinal cord injury. Herein, we compare the effects of buspirone, a 5-HT_1A receptor partial agonist, to fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, on forelimb motor function recovery after a C4 bilateral dorsal funiculi crush in adult female rats. After injury, single pellet reaching performance and forelimb muscle activity decreased in all rats. From 1 to 6 weeks after injury, rats were tested on these tasks with and without buspirone (1–2 mg/kg) or fluoxetine (1–5 mg/kg). Reaching and grasping success rates of buspirone-treated rats improved rapidly within 2 weeks after injury and plateaued over the next 4 weeks of testing. Electromyography (EMG) from selected muscles in the dominant forelimb showed that buspirone-treated animals used new reaching strategies to achieve success after the injury. However, forelimb performance dramatically decreased within 2 weeks of buspirone withdrawal. In contrast, fluoxetine treatment resulted in a more progressive rate of improvement in forelimb performance over 8 weeks after injury. Neither buspirone nor fluoxetine significantly improved quadrupedal locomotion on the horizontal ladder test. The improved accuracy of reaching and grasping, patterns of muscle activity, and increased excitability of spinal motor–evoked potentials after buspirone administration reflect extensive reorganization of connectivity within and between supraspinal and spinal sensory-motor netxcopy works. Thus, both serotonergic drugs, buspirone and fluoxetine, neuromodulated these networks to physiological states that enabled markedly improved forelimb function after cervical spinal cord injury.

血清素能药物可以改善脊髓损伤后运动能力的恢复。_{在此，我们比较了丁螺环酮（一种 5-HT 1A}受体部分激动剂）与氟西汀（一种选择性血清素再摄取抑制剂）对成年雌性大鼠 C4 双侧背索挤压后前肢运动功能恢复的影响。损伤后，所有大鼠的单颗粒到达性能和前肢肌肉活动均下降。受伤后 1 至 6 周，在使用或不使用丁螺环酮 (1–2 mg/kg) 或氟西汀 (1–5 mg/kg) 的情况下对大鼠进行这些任务测试。接受丁螺环酮治疗的大鼠的伸手和抓握成功率在受伤后 2 周内迅速提高，并在接下来的 4 周测试中趋于稳定。对优势前肢选定肌肉的肌电图（EMG）显示，接受丁螺环酮治疗的动物在受伤后使用了新的伸展策略来取得成功。然而，丁螺环酮停药后两周内，前肢性能急剧下降。相比之下，氟西汀治疗在受伤后 8 周内使前肢性能得到更快的改善。丁螺环酮和氟西汀均未显着改善水平梯测试中的四足运动。施用丁螺环酮后，伸手和抓握的准确性、肌肉活动模式的提高以及脊髓运动诱发电位的兴奋性增加，反映了脊髓上和脊髓感觉运动网络复制工作内部和之间连接的广泛重组。因此，丁螺环酮和氟西汀这两种血清素药物均可将这些网络神经调节至生理状态，从而使颈脊髓损伤后的前肢功能得到显着改善。