Macrophages are assigned to identify “attacks” from viruses, bacteria, or fungi However, these cells are a “double edged sword” in spinal cord injury, providing both neural repair-promoting properties and pathological functions that destroy neuronal tissue. Researchers from the University of Kentucky…
Category: Research (page 19)
Brain-computer link enables paralyzed California man to walk
A brain-to-computer technology that can translate thoughts into leg movements has enabled a man paralyzed from the waist down by a spinal cord injury to become the first such patient to walk without the use of robotics. The feat was accomplished…
Stimulating damaged spines rewires rats for recovery
A study by Dr Steve Perlmutter and his colleagues at the University of Washington suggests that precisely controlled electrical stimulation can encourage the nervous system to create detours around a SCI lesion, allowing commands to get through from brain to…
Does early exercise attenuate muscle atrophy or bone loss after spinal cord injury?
Researchers conducted a comprehensive search (Any-2014) of eleven databases to identify studies evaluating exercise interventions initiated within 12 weeks after SCI on muscle and bone loss in paralyzed limbs. The results show consistent evidence of positive effects of early exercise…
Study questions methylprednisolone use for treatment of patients with traumatic SCIs
Methylprednisolone used according to the NASCIS-II protocol to treat patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injuries resulted in more complications and did not improve motor score recovery compared with patients who did not receive the steroid, according to results of…
Expressing constitutively active Rheb in adult neurons after a complete spinal cord injury enhances axonal regeneration beyond a chondroitinase-treated glial scar
Clearing out the spinal cord scar using a bacterial roto-rooter; seeding the injury site with fragments of peripheral nerve; souping up inactive spinal cord nerve cells by modifying their genetic blueprints – these are three well-studied ideas that have each…
Non-invasive technique to transplant cells into the nervous system
A research team led by Dr Testuji Sekiya at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Medicine has discovered a new, non-invasive technique to transplant cells into the nervous system. They show that the “glial scar”, commonly thought to be an obstacle…
Paralysed men move legs with new non-invasive spinal cord stimulation
Five men with complete motor paralysis were able to voluntarily generate step-like movements thanks to a new strategy that non-invasively delivers electrical stimulation to their spinal cords. The strategy, called transcutaneous stimulation, delivers electrical current to the spinal cord by…
Peripheral nerve stimulation improves motor nerve function after spinal cord injury
A 2-minute interview with Dr Michael Lee rom The University of Sydney and NeuRA. Read more…