Normally, signals from the brain to the spinal cord are necessary to trigger locomotor movements in the lower limbs. On the other hand, it has been clear shown few years ago that most neuronal signals underlying locomotion are generated in the spinal cord itself. Therefore, in absence of descending signals from the brain caused by spinal cord injury, it may be possible to pharmacologically induce automatic-like locomotor movements by drug treatments that would mimic the missing neuronal signals. Research in our laboratory focuses on the development of new drug treatments to restore basic locomotor functions in paraplegic and transgenic mouse models. In vitro studies are also performed on isolated alive spinal cords to examine, with electrophysiological and by intracellular calcium imaging techniques, the cellular and intracellular mechanisms underlying effects of new drugs. Histological and immunohistological techniques are also used to study the effects of new neurotrophic molecules that would allow regeneration and repair of neurons in the brain and the spinal cord after injury.