A previously paralyzed rat climbs steps after several weeks of neurorehabilitation. Paralyzed rodents learned to walk again after intensive training and electrical stimulation of the brain and the spine, scientists reported. (EPFL via The New York Times)

Rats with a spinal cord injury that left their hind legs completely paralyzed learned to walk again on their own after an intensive training course that included electrical stimulation of the brain and the spine, scientists reported this week.

The study is the most comprehensive and rigorous presentation to date of what is possible in recovering from such injuries, and the Swiss research team is already working on technology to test the techniques in humans.

The report, published online Thursday in the journal Science, provides a striking demonstration of what, until recently, few scientists thought possible: complete rehabilitation after a disabling blow to the spinal cord. After weeks of training, many of the rats could walk as well as before the injury, and some could run.

The findings do not apply to all spinal injuries. The animals' spinal columns were cut without being completely severed. There were still some nerve connections that extended intact through the injured area.

In the study, a research team led by Gregoire Courtine of the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology gave a group of 10 rats the same surgical injury, cutting all direct nerve connections to the hind legs but stopping short of severing the spinal cord. The rats lost the use of their back legs but not their front legs.

The rats began a daily regimen. Outfitted with tiny vests, held upright on their back legs but left to bear their full weight, the rats tried to move toward a piece of cheese nearby. The scientists provided stimulation in three places: electrically, in the motor area of the brain and in the spinal cord below the injury, and chemically, infusing the wound area with drugs thought to promote growth.

Growth is what they got. After two to three weeks of 30-minute daily sessions, the rats began to take their first voluntary steps. After six weeks, all of the rats could walk on their own, and some could run and climb stairs. A comparison group of rats did not recover nearly as well.

"The way I think about it is that there is this little island of spare tissue in the injured area, and the neurons in that island begin to act as a relay center, bypassing the injury," Courtine said in a telephone interview.

Read more from the original source:
Rat experiment gives hope for recovery from spinal injuries

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