Spinal Cord Injury: The Rabbit Model

This chapter gives reasons for the choice of rabbit in experimental neurobiology and includes descriptions of both the spinal cord injury models and behavioral neuroscience methods. The models provide mechanisms for hypothesis generation that can be investigated at molecular and cellular levels. New insights obtained at both levels will result in a better understanding of various changes in nervous tissue after spinal cord injuries and ultimately will improve prevention and treatment modalities. The functional justification of the techniques presented in this chapter will allow the readers to design their own experiments in the rabbit.