Paralyzed Rats Walk Again
Wheee! THE past few months have been a busy time for research into ways to help people paralysed by spinal injury use signals from their brains to control mechanical limbs. If that could be done routinely, it would be an enormous boon to the disabled. But not, perhaps, as enormous as what is being proposed by Gr?ire Courtine, of the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland. For he and his colleagues have just published a paper in Science in which they explain how they coaxed the paralysed to walk again. And not just to walk, but to run, avoid obstacles and even sprint up a staircase. Unfortunately for those crippled by injury, the paralysed creatures in question were rats. But the results are so extraordinary that they should give hope to human sufferers.Dr Courtine paralysed his rats by cutting their spinal cords in two places, so that the animals could no longer move their hind legs. The cuts he made did not completely sever the cord, so some nerve fibres still ran from the rats' brains to t
Paralyzed Rats Walk Again
Spinal stimulation combined with assisted walking therapy generates new neural circuits and restores voluntary leg movement. Rats paralyzed by spinal-cord injury can learn to control their ...
Mon 4 Jun 12 from MIT Technology Review
Paralyzed Rats Walk Again, Thu 31 May 12 from MIT Technology Review
With Neurochemical Help and Lots of Training, Paralyzed Rats Regain Movement
Sat 2 Jun 12 from Discover Magazine
With Neurochemical Help and Lots of Training, Paralyzed Rats Regain Movement, Sat 2 Jun 12 from Discover Magazine
Paralyzed rats regain mobility with a combination of robotics and chemical stimulation
Researchers working at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have successfully made use of electrical and chemical stimulation techniques to excite neurons in the lower spinal cord of previously ...
Sat 2 Jun 12 from Gizmag
Rats with Severed Spines Walk, Run, Climb Stairs and Eat Chocolate
Chemical injections and electrical stimulation help the damaged spinal cord heal itself
Fri 1 Jun 12 from IEEE Spectrum
Paralysed rats 'learn to walk'
Paralysed rats have been able to walk again when their spinal cords were bathed in chemicals and zapped with electricity, scientists have shown.
Fri 1 Jun 12 from BBC News
Spinal injury: Running repairs
Wheee! THE past few months have been a busy time for research into ways to help people paralysed by spinal injury use signals from their brains to control mechanical limbs. If that could be ...
Thu 31 May 12 from The Economist
Rehab robot helps paralysed rats walk again
Rats paralysed by severe spinal cord damage have regained the ability to walk with the aid of a rehabilitating robot and a little motivation
Thu 31 May 12 from Newscientist
Robotic Rehab Helps Paralyzed Rats Walk Again
A combination of high-tech therapies shows promise for treating spinal injuries
Thu 31 May 12 from Science Now
Total number of sources: 30
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