Video: After Robot-Assisted Rehab and a Dose of Chemicals, Paralyzed Rats Walk Again
With careful training using a robotic harness, and a special chemical cocktail designed to stimulate brain cells, rats with spinal cord injuries were able to re-learn how to walk. Scientists in Switzerland say the tests suggest humans with paralysis due to spinal cord injuries may regain some nerve activity. The therapy takes advantage of the nervous system's inherent plasticity, in which neural networks can be rewired to take on different tasks. Areas of the motor cortex were able to establish new connections to the rats' hind limbs, which had been paralyzed due to spinal cord injuries in a manner similar to spinal cord paralysis in people. Related ArticlesVideo: In Breakthrough Study, Paralyzed Patients Move a Robotic Arm With Their Own Thoughts With Electrical Stimulation to the Spinal Cord, Paralyzed Man Walks Again Electrical Nerve Hacking Restores Movement To Paralyzed LimbsTagsScience, Rebecca Boyle, limbs, neural pathways, paralysis, paralyzed, plasticity of the brain, rats,...