Paralyzed Rats Walk Again

May 31, 2012 2:53pm

Paralyzed rats could walk again after scientists in Switzerland treated their injured spinal cordsthrough a combination of chemical, electrical and physical stimulation.

Gregoire Courtine, the studys lead author, said the techniquewould not completely cure a spinal cord injury, but the study gave scientists an idea of how they could combine therapies, each of which have been orare beingtested in humans.

This kind of approach will not make miracles, said Gregoire Courtine, the studys lead author, but its interesting because it offers new therapeutic avenues for these very traumatic injuries.

First, the researchers injected the injured rats with chemicals designed to mimic the bodys own cocktail of signals that coordinate movement of the lower body. Five to 10 minutes after the injection, the researchers sent electrical impulses to tiny electrodes placed in the narrow space between the bones of the spine and the nerves of the spinal cord, stokingthe spinal cords ability to come back after an injury, a quality scientists call neuroplasticity.

The findings were published today in the journal Science.

After a few weeks of the combination of chemicals and electricity, 10 rats were trained to use their paralyzed hind legs with the help of a robotic device for 30 minutes each day, until they could move their legs voluntarily.

After a few weeks of treatment, the rats are not only voluntarily initiated a walking gait butsoonsprinted, climbed stairs and avoided obstacles, the study found.

The improvement to the spinal cord was visible, too. The rats spinal cords regrew nerves to bridge the gap of their injuries.

The chemical, electrical and physical training therapies have each been individually studied in paralyzed humans. In 2011, electrical stimulation of the spine helped Rob Summers, a paralyzed 25-year-old, move his legs voluntarily.

More here:
Paralyzed Rats Walk Again