Author: Laurel Hamers / Source: Science News for Students
For many people, paralysis used to be a life sentence.
But that’s changing.Injuries to the spinal cord can cause paralysis, an inability to move one or more parts of the body. But a new therapy may help when other treatments have failed. It stimulates the spinal cord with electricity.
A new study involved three people who had been paralyzed from very badly injured spinal cords. For five months, each underwent training. At the same time, researchers also zapped nerve cells in their spinal cords with electricity. Afterward, each person could walk with some support. The researchers described their results online October 31 in Nature.
Nerve cells are also called neurons. Jolting these cells in the spinal cord with electricity boosts signals coming from the lower limbs. This improves the brain, and legs communicate better.
All three patients were paralyzed from an injury at least four years earlier. Each still had some nerve connections at the site of their injuries. Even after a lot of therapy, though, none had gotten back any movement.
But after the therapy, two of the people could walk with crutches — now without electrical stimulation. That suggests the treatment may have helped strengthen links between the brain and spinal cord.
This kind of recovery is “extremely exciting,” says Chet Moritz.
He works at the University of Washington in Seattle and wasn’t involved in the work. As a neuroscientist, he studies the nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord.Precision pulses
Two other major studies had similar results. Each was published in September. Both showed similar recovery from paralysis. But in those studies, the people no longer had any working nerve connections between their spinal cords and leg muscles.
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