UCLA scientists make paralyzed rats walk again after spinal-cord injury
UCLA researchers have discovered that a combination of drugs, electrical stimulation and regular exercise can enable paralyzed rats to walk and even run again while supporting their full weight on a treadmill. Published in Nature neuroscience, the findings suggest that the regeneration of severed nerve fibers is not required for paraplegic rats to learn to walk again. The finding may hold implications for human rehabilitation after spinal cord injuries.
"The spinal cord contains nerve circuits that can generate rhythmic activity without input from the brain to drive the hind leg muscles in a way that resembles walking called 'stepping,'" explained principal investigator Reggie Edgerton, a professor of neurobiology and physiological sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
"Previous studies have tried to tap into this circuitry to help victims of spinal cord injury," he added. "While other researchers have elicited similar leg movements in people with complete spinal injuries, they have not achieved full weight-bearing and sustained stepping as we have in our study."
Edgerton's team tested rats with complete spinal injuries that left no voluntary movement in their hind legs. After setting the paralyzed rats on a moving treadmill belt, the scientists administered drugs that act on the neurotransmitter serotonin and applied low levels of electrical currents to the spinal cord below the point of injury.
The combination of stimulation and sensation derived from the rats' limbs moving on a treadmill belt triggered the spinal rhythm-generating circuitry and prompted walking motion in the rats' paralyzed hind legs. Daily treadmill training over several weeks eventually enabled the rats to regain full weight-bearing walking, including backwards, sideways and at running speed. However, the injury still interrupted the brain's connection to the spinal cord-based rhythmic walking circuitry, leaving the rats unable to walk of their own accord.
Neuro-prosthetic devices may bridge human spinal cord injuries to some extent, however, so activating the spinal cord rhythmic circuitry as the UCLA team did may help in rehabilitation after spinal cord injuries.
Most read news
Organizations
Other news from the department science

Get the life science industry in your inbox
By submitting this form you agree that LUMITOS AG will send you the newsletter(s) selected above by email. Your data will not be passed on to third parties. Your data will be stored and processed in accordance with our data protection regulations. LUMITOS may contact you by email for the purpose of advertising or market and opinion surveys. You can revoke your consent at any time without giving reasons to LUMITOS AG, Ernst-Augustin-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany or by e-mail at revoke@lumitos.com with effect for the future. In addition, each email contains a link to unsubscribe from the corresponding newsletter.
Most read news
More news from our other portals
Last viewed contents

"Growing end" of inflammation discovered - Stopping chronic inflammatory diseases

Researchers investigate structural changes in snap-frozen proteins - A novel method allows visualization of molecular motions lasting a few millionths of a second
Stem Cell Treatment Speeds Up Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury in Monkeys
Category:World_Health_Organization_officials

Insufficient insulin processing leads to overweight - The finding opens up new therapeutic possibilities

Structure of wheat immune protein resolved - Important tool in the battle for food security
Study outlines risk factors for poor outcome, mortality following hip fracture - Commencing surgery sooner may alleviate hip fracture complications

Mobile phone use may affect semen quality - Is 4G less harmful than 2G?

New theorem helps reveal tuberculosis' secret

FLAM-seq: the full picture of messenger RNA and their tails
Alligator Bioscience to Receive USD 6 Million Milestone Payment from Janssen
