Like linemen stringing an electric cable over a gorge, a research team co-directed by a Cleveland scientist has devised a way to coax nerve fibers to grow a "bridge" across gaps in rats' damaged spinal cords. The new technique, reported today in the Journal of Neuroscience, successfully re-established some neural connections and restored a "considerable" amount of movement in five of seven partially paralyzed rats, according to the researchers. After treatment, animals that had been dragging their forelimbs were able to plant their front feet, bear weight and bend their arms to touch their faces. "I think it's a real...