Paralyzed rats run again: Could this method help humans?

Los Angeles Times ^ | 06/01/2012 | Melissa Healy

[SeekAndFind]

Paralyzed rats learned to walk, run and spring deftly over obstacles after they were put on a physical training regimen that included electrical and chemical stimulation of their broken spinal columns and a “robotic postural interface,” a new study reveals.

The study, published Thursday in Science, suggests that for humans with spinal cord injury, the trick to regaining lost movement may lie not in regeneration of the severed spinal cord, but in inducing the brain and spinal cord to forge wholly new paths toward each other. The Swiss authors liken that process to the way that infants, their nervous systems incomplete and learning by experience, sync up their brains and limbs so they can progressively crawl, stand, walk and play.

All told, 250,000 Americans live with spinal cord injury, and just over half -- 52% -- are paraplegic. Each year, 11,000 new injuries occur--overwhelming in young males.

In this study, coaxing that neural reinvention along took four key components: a soup of neurotransmitters — serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine -- injected into the epidural space; a set of electrodes supplying a continuous flow of electrical energy near the site of the break in the spinal cord; a rehabilitation rig that supports the unsteady participant and initially forces movement of the legs; and a training course that is as real-world as possible.

After five to six weeks of training on uneven and irregular terrain, all 10 rats used in the study regained the capacity to walk voluntarily “and even to sprint up a staircase,” says study co-author Gregoire Courtine, a research scientist in spinal cord repair at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland.

“It was pretty exciting,” he said in an interview Thursday.

The experiment brought together many disparate threads of rehabilitation research and was several years in the making.

[SeekAndFind]

At first, paralyzed in the "robotic postural prosthesis" only walked out of reflex. With six weeks' practice, some electric stimulation and pharmaceutical help, they learned to walk again--this time, on purpose. (Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne)

[SargeK]

Hell, that’s nothing. Around here, DEAD ‘rats vote every election!

[max americana]

And those same Rats’ are brain paralyzed yet somehow manage to vote.

[FixitGuy]

Do you HAVE to be a RAT for this to work????

I have some friends that could use this approach!

[FixitGuy]

Do you HAVE to be a RAT for this to work????

I have some friends that could use this approach!

[rarestia]

LMAO!

I was thinking DemocRATS were the subject.

Either way, this is awesome news.

[GOPJ]

ping

[Jeff Chandler]

[grumpygresh]

The technology does exist for humans. Spinal cord stimulators and epidural catheters or intrathecal pumps with infusion of neurotransmitters.

[giotto]

This could explain some of those miraculous cures, where someone, after being told he’ll never walk again, willed his way to mobility. What may have happened in those cases is that the brain found—or created—alternate paths to functional nerves.

[OldPossum]

Each year, 11,000 new injuries occur--overwhelming in young males.

And I'll bet that a substantial proportion of these injuries come from motorcycle accidents. But heck, riding them is fun and worth the risk, ain't it? /s

[calex59]

And I'll bet that a substantial proportion of these injuries come from motorcycle accidents. But heck, riding them is fun and worth the risk, ain't it? /s

Oh, yeah, because young, and old, males don't do anything else dangerous besides ride motorcycles and no one was ever injured in a car wreck, no one ever leaped out of an airplane, high dived off of cliffs or 4 wheeled on obscure dirt trails or used a hang glider to kill or injure themselves, not to mention the awful toll of injuries our young men have incurred during the Iraq and Afghanistan BS.

Plain to see you have an anti-motorcycle mind set.

And yes, it is fun and is worth the risk, which is in reality quite small not much more risky than crossing the street in a busy city and less risky than riding a frickin' bicycle with absolutely no protective clothing at all.

I have never seen a dead motorcyclist after he/she was hit or run over by a truck but have see at least 5 bicycle riders squashed into the pavement, one had his head ran over by a logging truck simply because he had no motor to use as power to get away.

[OldPossum]

My nieces, who work in hospital emergency rooms, see plenty of motorcyclists. One described a case in which the doctors lifted off the helmet of a young man (it’s always young men, women have better sense) and there was no head to speak of, just a jumble of brain matter.

A close relative, traveling on an Interstate highway, exited the highway, lost control of his Harley-Davidson, banged into a guardrail, and killed himself.

Yeah, you could call me anti-motorcyclists. I think it is stupid as hell to get on a vehicle that can easily exceed 100 mph with no—repeat, no—protection afforded by the surrounding structure of cars and trucks. But, if that’s your death wish, go right ahead. If you survive perhaps you’ll be visited by one of the cadres of psychiatrists hired by hospitals or their insurance companies to counsel the young men who have made paraplegics or quadriplegics of themselves. These doctors will prepare you psychologically for the next 40 to 50 years that you’ll spend in a wheelchair or a bed.

So, if you think the fun is worth the risk, well, it’s still pretty much a free country. Knock yourself out.

P.S. FYI, I don’t ride bicycles either, nor have I jumped out of a plane or off a cliff. I don’t do dumb things. I’ve been on this Earth for 71 years and I have had no broken bones, nor have I ever as much as sprained an ankle. Still walking too; that can’t be said of all those macho men who chose to defy death and lost. But, hell, I guess they had more fun.

[calex59]

I'll bet bicycle riders outnumber motorcycles 4 to 1. Stayed scared all of your life if you wish, you will die as surely as any of the rest of us who are not afraid to partake of life, such as riding motorcycles, something I have done since I was 20(70 now)and have yet to have an accident(knock on wood). I have 4 friends who ride also and have also never had an accident or been hurt riding a motorcycle, I do have friends who have been pretty screwed up from riding bicycles however. There are people who live life and there are people who cower at home thinking if they never do any thing dangerous, like smoke a cigarette(I don't smoke), ride a motorcycle or jump out of airplanes, they will never die. I prefer to be one of those who lives their life, thank you anyway.

BTW, Car accident victims out number motorcycle accident victims in any ER in the country.

[OldPossum]

I have no recollection of staying home, cowering—I bet that’s what you are thinking—and thinking that if I am careful, I’ll never die. Let me tell you that I have a lot of good experiences (”partaking” if you will) in life. A great time in college, working as a commercial radio station DJ, three years of military service, maybe as many as 10 trips to Europe, other stuff. I’ve have a great life. I just never took chances with doing things such as riding motorcycles or jumping out of planes, which I take you think are metaphors for living life.

You seem to have some bitter feelings about people who ride bicycles. You will pardon me if I just say that I feel the same way about motorcycles.

But, hey, go ahead and ride those motorbikes. And one day when they scrape you off the pavement you can be thinking, “But, wow, I had a great time!”

And as for this little gem: “Car accident victims outnumber motorcycle accident victims in any ER in the country.” That’s because there are many, many more cars than motorbikes in this country. Why don’t you look at percentages instead of raw numbers?