Paralysis

Although there are systems that allow physically challenged users to communicate by twitching facial muscles, for some people even those muscle movements are impossible. A new setup offers a possible alternative, however, by going into the ear.

The team behind a project known as BrainGate have made a major breakthrough, demonstrating a wireless brain-computer interface that can read and transmit neural signals at a bandwidth that is on par with wired systems.

Unfortunately there isn’t much that doctors can do to repair the damage after a spinal cord injury. But UCLA researchers have shown in tests in mice that injections of a porous scaffold material can help the body patch up the damage.

German scientists have restored the ability to walk in mice that had been paralyzed by a complete spinal cord injury. The team created a “designer” signaling protein and injected it into the animals’ brains, stimulating nerve cells to regenerate.

One of their more promising applications for brain computer interfaces involves allowing sufferers of paralysis to regain control of prosthetic devices, something scientists have now demonstrated with a first-of-a-kind plug-and-play device.

If someone is lacking a hand, a prosthetic appendage can help them perform basic daily tasks. However, what if they've still got both hands, but one of them is paralyzed? Well, that's where NeoMano is designed to come in.

​When a spinal cord injury occurs, sometimes it's the body's own immune system that causes the subsequent paralysis. In the not-too-distant future, however, it's possible that an injection of nanoparticles at the injury site may be able to rein in the well-meaning but destructive immune cells.

A spinal cord injury doesn’t need to be complete to cause paralysis – even with some nerves left intact, messages from the brain still don’t get through. While investigating why, researchers determined that a certain drug helps balance the Yin and Yang of the nervous system to restore limb movement.

A team of researchers has successfully regenerated spinal tissue in rat models. Using a common antibiotic as the on/off switch, the therapy breaks down scar tissue and allows new nerve cells to grow, resulting in rats with spinal injuries relearning complex hand movements.

Six people suffering varying degrees of paralysis have now regained the use of their hands and fingers after participating in a UCLA-led study of a nonsurgical, noninvasive spinal stimulation technique.

Researchers at Caltech have induced a range of sensations in the arm of a paralyzed man. Electrodes implanted in the brain stimulated the neurons to produce different feelings. The research could eventually lead to prosthetic limbs that allow users to feel realistic sensations through them.

​There are some paraplegic rats that are now able to walk again, or that are at least coming close to doing so, and it's thanks to human stem cells. The cells essentially helped bridge a gap that scientists had introduced in the animals' spinal cords.