Researchers from Japan and USA have created an artificial neural connection which bridged a spinal cord lesion in a paretic monkey. This allowed the monkey to voluntarily control of the paralysed hand.
“This study was different from what other research groups have done up to now; we didn’t use any prosthetic limbs like robotic arms to replace the original arm. What’s new is that we have been able to use this artificial neuronal connection bypassing the lesion site to restore volitional control of the subject’s own paretic arm.” said Associate professor Nishimura.
Read more… The study was published online in Frontiers in Neural Circuits