A major breakthrough was reported in neuroscience research this week. Four paraplegic patients who participated in a study were able to voluntarily move their legs again after repeated epidural electrical stimulation of their spinal cords....
The three new patients in this most recent study had all suffered a complete spinal cord injury and were paralyzed for years. Yet they were able to move their legs immediately following the implantation and activation of the stimulator.
So...that is tremendous news. Especially the part about the patients having complete and chronic injuries, which I have. A complete injury means there is a total loss of sensory and motor function below the level of injury; in short, it sucks. At the gym while walking on the treadmill or doing squats, I often will get a tingling or burning sensation in the muscles I am working on, which I have equated to a sort of 'new normal' of sensory function. But a lack of regular sensation persists, and requires constant vigilance in monitoring my skin for redness, shears, or scrapes. Even a slight ability to feel discomfort or an abnormality would come in handy.
I use electrical stimulation at the gym too, like they do in this study: on my quads while doing squats to get the muscles to fire at the right time, on my abs while doing planks, and sometimes on my lower back to help better my sitting posture on the edge of the mat table. This would be about the only time a lack of sensation is a good thing - I imagine that jolt of electricity would be rather uncomfortable on skin that worked right.
From an article in Fast Company:
All four patients have gained back movement of their toes, knees, whole legs, ankles, and trunk to varying degrees when the stimulator--which mimics signals that the brain usually sends to the spinal cord to initiate movement--is turned on. And over time, with training, they've been able to gain back more movement with less stimulation, showing that the spinal cord can improve nerve function.
"The concept is that the brain sends a simple straightforward signal, the spinal cord responds, and it has complex signals that execute the details of the movement," explains Dr. Susan Harkema, a professor at University of Louisville and the director University of Louisville’s Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (KSCIRC). "That's why when we turn the stimulator on, there's a tiny residual signal that comes from the brain, which must be pretty minimal. It certainly must be very, very small and it can't be complex because there's not much remaining. If you can optimize the spinal cord, it can respond even to that faint signal."Proving that it's not necessary for the nerve endings in the spinal cord to regenerate for function to improve is huge (although research is being done on getting nerve ending to regrow too. Beggars can't be choosers - as long as someone figures it out!). It's kind of like having a Google Maps route plotted out, than having that course interrupted by traffic or an accident. Training your nerves to send signals down a new route, assuming that there's at least a little bit of spinal cord there to transmit it, is the GPS recalculating the next best route. Assuming your GPS works right, of course - if not, you're screwed. After all, there is more than just one way to get where you need to be.
Related: this is a pretty cool story.
Former Tulane safety Devon Walker was paralyzed from the neck down after a collision with a teammate during a 2012 football game against Tulsa. But it never stopped him from becoming the Green Wave's inspirational leader the past two seasons.
I love it. The more attention stories like this get, the better.And it didn't stop Walker from realizing his dream of signing an NFL contract, either.The New Orleans Saints surprised Walker by signing him to an official contract Saturday -- just hours before Walker realized another dream by graduating from college.
No comments:
Post a Comment