All volunteers saw immediate improvement.
A new study has identified the type of neuron that is activated and remodeled by spinal cord stimulation, allowing patients to stand, walk, and regrow their muscles, thereby improving the quality of their lives. Quality improves. Science Alert.
This discovery, made in nine patients, represents a significant clinical breakthrough. On November 9, 2022, study . was published in Nature.
The study was carried out by researchers from the Swiss research group NeuroRestore, who used rats as a starting point to identify the exact nerve clusters stimulated by the therapy.
online publication science alertFurther explained that the nerve cells that control movement are found in the part of the spinal cord that runs through our lower back. Injuries to our spinal cord can disrupt the chain of signals from the brain, preventing us from walking, even though these specific lumbar neurons are still intact.
According to nature magazineA spinal cord injury disrupts the pathway from the brain and brainstem to the lumbar spinal cord, leading to paralysis.
The study further states that the neurons that organize walking reside in the lumbar spinal cord. To walk, the brain transmits commands through descending pathways that leave the brainstem to activate these neurons. A severe spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs this exquisitely organized circulatory system. While neurons located in the lumbar spinal cord are not directly damaged by injury, the lack of essential supraspinal commands renders them non-functional. The result is permanent paralysis.
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