Marina Martinez Lab

Who we are

UdeM

Hôpital du Sacré Coeur

Our labs are located at the Department of Neuroscience at Université de Montréal (UdeM) and at Centre de Recherche de l’Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal (HSCM), in the city of Montréal, Québec, Canada. Our research falls under the Traumatology theme, one of the three research priority guiding the HSCM towards its goal of making ground-breaking discoveries and apply this new knowledge towards improvements in health.

What we do

The primary focus of our research is the neural basis of recovery after spinal cord injury.
We use rodent and cat models and a combination of electrophysiological, behavioural and anatomical techniques to study the link between neuroplasticity mechanisms and motor recovery after spinal cord lesions.
We develop mechanisms-driven neurorehabilitation approaches for motor control, including neuroprosthetics.

MAJOR ISSUES EXPLORED:

How cortical and spinal plasticity contribute to locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury
How recovery-related mechanisms can be promoted after spinal cord injury
How these animal studies can be translated to novel therapies

Why we work

Promoting recovery of function after spinal cord injury is a challenge for scientists and health-care system. In Canada, about 86,000 people live with a spinal cord injury, and more than 4,300 new cases arise every year. For spinal cord injured individuals, limitations in sensory-motor activities such as walking and posture severely affect their quality of life. The management of these patients is a major public health issue and is associated with enormous economic costs, with tens of billions of dollars spent annually within Canada alone.

Currently there are few effective therapies available for these patients and appropriate approaches can only be developed if a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms sustaining recovery is obtained. In our lab we are studying the fundamentals of recovery with the ultimate goal of providing clinicians with new therapeutic tools to improve the treatment of SCI patients.

Publications

Massai E, Bonizzato M, Martinez M. Cortical neuroprosthesis-mediated functional ipsilateral control of locomotion in rats with incomplete spinal cord injury. BioRxiv 2021.
Brown A, Martinez M. Chronic inactivation of the contralesional hindlimb motor cortex after thoracic spinal cord hemisection impedes spontaneous locomotor recovery in the rat. Experimental Neurology 2021, 343 (113775).
Bonizzato M, Martinez M. An intracortical neuroprosthesis immediately alleviates walking deficits and improves recovery of leg control after spinal cord injury. Science Translational Medicine 2021, 13(586):eabb4422.
Brown A, Martinez M. From cortex to cord: motor circuit plasticity after spinal cord injury. Neural Regeneration Research 2019, 14(12):2054-2062.
Brown A, Martinez M. Thoracic spinal cord hemisection surgery and open-field locomotor assessment in the rat. Journal of Visualized Experiments 2019 (148), e59738.
Brown A and Martinez M. Ipsilesional motor cortex plasticity participates in spontaneous hindlimb recovery after unilateral spinal cord injury. J. Neuroscience 2018, 38(46):9977–9988.
Gossard JP, Delivet-Mongrain H, Martinez M, Kundu A, Escalona A, Rossignol S. Plastic changes in lumbar locomotor networks following a partial spinal cord injury in cats. J. Neuroscience 2015, 35:9446-55. Rossignol S, Martinez M, Escalona M, Kundu A, Delivet-Mongrain H, Alluin O, Gossard JP. The “Beneficial” Effects of Locomotor Training after Various Types of Spinal Lesions in Cats and Rats. Prog Brain Res. 2015, 218:173-98.
Cohen-Adad J, Martinez M, Delivet-Mongrain H, Rossignol S. Recovery of locomotion after partial spinal cord lesions in cats: assessment using behavioral, electrophysiological and imaging techniques. Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis, 2014, 74:142-57.
Martinez M, Tuznik M, Delivet-Mongrain H, Rossignol S. Emergence of Deletions during Treadmill Locomotion as a Function of Supraspinal and Sensory Inputs. J. Neuroscience 2013, 33:11599-605.
Martinez M, Delivet-Mongrain H, Rossignol S. Treadmill training promotes spinal changes leading to locomotor recovery after partial spinal cord injury in cats. J. Neurophysiology 2013, 109: 2909-22.
Martinez M and Rossignol S. A dual spinal cord lesion paradigm to study spinal locomotor plasticity in the cat. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2013, 1279:127-34. DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06823.x
Martinez M, Delivet-Mongrain H, Leblond H, Rossignol S. Effect of locomotor training in completely spinalized cats previously submitted to a spinal hemisection. J. Neuroscience 2012, 32:10961-70.
Martinez M, Delivet-Mongrain H, Leblond H, Rossignol S. Incomplete spinal cord injury promotes durable functional changes within the spinal locomotor circuitry. J. Neurophysiology 2012, 108:124-34.
Martinez M and Rossignol S. Changes in CNS structures after Spinal Cord Lesions: implications for BMI. Progress in Brain Research, Vol 194. Edited by Jens Schouenborg, Martin Garwicz and Nils Danielsen. Progress in Brain Research 2011, 194:191-202.
Martinez M, Delivet-Mongrain H, Leblond H, Rossignol S. Recovery of hindlimb locomotion after incomplete spinal cord injury in the cat involves spontaneous compensatory changes within the spinal locomotor circuitry. J. Neurophysiology 2011, 106:1969-1984.
Cohen-Adad J, Leblond H, Delivet-Mongrain H, Martinez M, Rossignol S. Wallerian degeneration after spinal lesions in cats detected with diffusion tensor imaging. Neuroimage, 2011, 57:1068-76.
Rossignol S, Frigon A, Barrière G, Martinez M, Barthélemy D, Bouyer L, Bélanger M, Provencher J, Chau C, Brustein E, Barbeau H, Giroux N, Marcoux J, Langlet C, Alluin O. Spinal Plasticity in the Recovery of Locomotion. Progress in Brain Research. Edited by J.P. Gossard, A. Kolta and R. Dubuc; 2011; 188:229-41.
Martinez M, Brezun JM, Xerri C. Sensorimotor experience influences recovery of forelimb abilities but not tissue loss after focal cortical compression in adult rats. PLoS One 2011; 6(2): e16726.
Martinez M, Delcour M, Russier M, Zennou-Azogui Y, Xerri C, Coq JO, Brezun JM. Differential tactile and motor recovery and cortical map alteration after C4-C5 spinal hemisection. Experimental Neurology 2010, 221:186-197.
Martinez M, Brezun JM, Zennou-Azogui Y, Baril N, Xerri C. Sensorimotor training promotes functional recovery and somatosensory cortical map reactivation following cervical spinal cord injury. European J. Neuroscience 2009, 30:2356-67.
Martinez M, Brezun JM, Bonnier L, Xerri C. A new rating scale for open-field evaluation of behavioural recovery after cervical spinal cord injury in rats. J. Neurotrauma 2009, 26:1043-53.

Techniques

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Members

Marco Bonizzato, PhD.

Postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience

Université de Montréal

David Bergeron, PhD.

Postdoctoral fellow, Neurosurgery resident

Université de Montréal

Isley de Jesus, PhD.

Postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience

Université de Montréal

Roxanne Drainville

Master student in Neuroscience

Université de Montréal

Anne-Catherine Chouinard

Master student in Neuroscience

Université de Montréal

Hugo Delivet-Mongrain

Lab manager

Université de Montréal

ALUMNI - 2021

Morgane Regniez, MSc.

PhD student in Neurocience

Université de Montréal

Maude Duguay, BSc.

Master student in Neuroscience

Université de Montréal

Alexandre Sheasby

BSc. student in Neuroscience

Université de Montréal

Charlie Lepitre

BSc. student in Biomedical Sciences

Université de Montréal

Roxanne Drainville, BSc.

Research Assistant

Anne-Catherine Chouinard

BSc. student in Neurocience

Université de Montréal

Mehdi Jawad

BSc. student in Biomedical Sciences

Université de Montréal

Rania Lejri

BSc. student in Biomedical Sciences

Université de Montréal

ALUMNI - 2020

Catherine Landry

BSc. student in Cognitive Neuroscience (Honors Program)

Université de Montréal

Véronique Chouinard

BSc. student in Neuroscience (Honors Program)

Université de Montréal

Elena Massai, MSc. Biomedical Engineering

PhD student in Neurocience

Université de Montréal

Maxime Delcour, PhD.

Postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience

Université de Montréal

ALUMNI - 2019

Andrew Brown, PhD.

Postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience

Université de Montréal

Zied Oueghlani, PhD.

Postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience

Université de Montréal

Emilie Delage

BSc. student in Psychology (Honors Program)

Université de Montréal

Ruxandra Rosca, BSc.

Master student in Neuroscience,

Exchange program with Université de Bordeaux

Rose Guay-Hottin

BSc. student in Cognitive Neuroscience (Honors Program)

Université de Montréal

Inès Lacôte

Master student in Advanced Systems and Robotics

Exchange program with Sorbonne Université Faculté de Sciences, France

Uliana Kashchii

Medicine student

Exchange program with Donetsk National Medical University, Ukraine

ALUMNI - 2018

Juliette Milner

BSc. student in Psychology

Université de Montréal

Simon-Olivier Cloutier

BSc. student in Psychology

Université de Montréal

Simon Guichandut

BSc. in Engineering Physics

Ecole Polytechnique, Université de Montréal

Patrick William Toki, BSc.

Master student in Biomedical Engineering

Ecole Polytechnique, Université de Montréal

ALUMNI - 2017

Aurélie Flaive, BSc.

Master student in Neuroscience

Exchange program with Université de Bordeaux

Stéphanie Langheit

BSc. student in Psychology

Université de Montréal

ALUMNI - 2015

Yassine Bensaada

BSc. Honor student in Neuroscience

University of Calgary

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