Monkey study gives new hope for paralysis patients with spinal cord injuries
Last updated 10/21/2008 9:22:20 AM
Monkey study gives new hope for paralysis patients with spinal cord injuries
A promising new study may lead to treatments for people paralysed with spinal cord or other injuries, researchers have revealed.
Monkeys regained the use of paralysed wrist muscles with a computer-aided device that uses brain signals to direct movement.
"This was an initial demonstration that this type of technology is possible," said Chet Moritz of the University of Washington in Seattle, who reported his findings in the journal Nature.
The system essentially provides an artificial route for brain signals to reach paralysed muscles, replacing a natural pathway that may have been disrupted by injury.
While other teams have developed complicated systems that look for brain signals that control movement in specific body parts, Moritz and colleagues wanted to see if the brain could teach itself to use the computerised system.
Researchers implanted monkeys with electrodes that monitor brain cells in the motor cortex, the area of the brain that controls movement.
The electrodes sent signals to a computer, which was wired to muscles in the wrist.The researchers injected drugs into arm muscles of monkeys to induce temporary paralysis, then asked them to play a familiar video game.