Implant Lets Nine People With Spinal Paralysis Walk Again, and Scientists Think They Know Why

Paralysis due to damage to the spine has been irreversible in the past.

The walking ability of nine more patients was restored by a new research that was published in the journal Nature.

Scientists working for a research center in Switzerland say that they have identified the brain cells that are needed to walk in paralyzed patients. Although they aren't essential for walking before a spine injury, they are active in a form of treatment called EES.

In order to understand the specific role that each neuronal subpopulation plays in a complex activity like walking, it is essential for neuroscientists.

EES involves implanting a device in the spine that stimulates the brain. Scientists have previously been able to restore some walking ability in patients using this method, and in this study they were able to do the same for nine more patients.

Four of their patients who were treated with EES were still able to walk even after their implant was removed, and that's something that sets their accomplishment apart.

It was difficult to find out why these benefits continued.

The researchers began to suspect that EESremodels the spinal cord after the patients underwent an additional five months of rehabilitation.

They found that the EES rehab led to less activity in the back and that a specific subpopulation of neurons must have been responsible for the improvement in walking after paralysis.

"When you think about it, it should not be a surprise, because in the brain, when you learn a task, there are less and less neurons activated," said Grégoire Courtine, a neuroscientist.

The team created a "molecular atlas" of the cells in the mice's brains that had undergone the EES rehabilitation program. The researchers were able to identify the essential neurons thanks to the help of an artificial intelligence.

The researchers used a different sample of injured mice to confirm their findings. They were unable to walk when they tried to rehabilitate the mice with the same program.

It paves the way for potentially revolutionary treatments in the future if Courtine's findings pan out.

The study paves the way for more targeted treatments for paralyzed patients. We can now try to regenerate the spine.

Paralyzed man is able to control his legs using an app.