A man and a woman – who were confined to a wheelchair after suffering a spinal cord injury more than two decades ago – have now been able to walk and walk again with the help of an innovative deep-brain stimulation technique.

According to a news release from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, Wolfgang Jaeger – who was in his early 30s when a skiing accident in 2006 left him immobile, is now able to become independent once again. Have become capable. “On vacation last year, it was no problem to use the stimulation to walk down a few steps and back into the ocean,” said Jagger, now 54.

He added, “I can also access things in my cupboard in the kitchen.”

scientists conducted an experiment Innovative brain-zapping technology

A team from EPFL and Lausanne University Hospital say zapping the brain in an “unexpected” place – the lateral hypothalamus – has helped Jagger and another woman with the same injury regain movement.

The findings of the research, published earlier this week in the journal naturopathyInvolved deep brain stimulation Through the implantation of electrodes in specific brain areas to help direct neural activity. It has long been used to treat diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and tremors.

However, according to scientists, recently scientists discovered that the lateral hypothalamus may play an important role in motor skills. Previously, neurologists thought that this small brain area was only involved in arousal and feeding mechanisms.

How did the Swiss team carry forward their experiment?

According to the team of scientists from Lausanne, they tried to give the lateral hypothalamus a role in the restoration of mobility in people with damaged spinal cord. First, he conducted experiments on rats. The researchers said those preclinical studies helped them “establish the precise circuits involved in the recovery of walking” in rodents.

Later, they tried the same steps on people who were paralyzed due to spinal cord injury – using deep brain stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus. Brain scans were used to guide and implant electrodes in the brains of two fully awake patients.

“Once the electrodes were in place and we performed the stimulation, the first patient immediately said, ‘I can feel my legs.’ When we increased the stimulation, she said, ‘I feel the urge to walk!'” said study co-leader and EPFL professor and neurosurgeon Dr. Jocelyn Bloch.

“This real-time response confirmed that we targeted the right area, even though this area had never been associated with leg control in humans,” he said. “At this moment, I knew we were witnessing an important discovery for the physiological organization of brain functions.”

Bloch and study co-leader Grégoire Courtin said they are extremely positive about their new discovery.

“This research shows that the brain is required to recover from paralysis,” said Coutin, professor of neuroscience at EPFL. “Surprisingly, the brain is not able to take full advantage of neuronal projections that survive one after another. spinal cord injuryHere, we discovered how to tap into a small area of ​​the brain that was not thought to be involved in the production of walking to engage these residual connections and enhance neurological recovery in people with spinal cord injury.

More such experiments are to come

While scientists say just two patients are an incredibly small study group, more research is needed and will be conducted soon. Scientists say future studies will focus on combining deep brain stimulation with other technologies, such as spinal cord implants, to better help patients walk again.

“Integrating our two approaches – brain and spinal cord stimulation – will offer a more comprehensive recovery strategy for patients with spinal cord injury,” Courtin said.

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