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Posted on Sep 25, 2009, 6 a.m.
Technique of electrical stimulation and drugs enabled rats with severed spinal cords to run again, suggesting possible applications in humans
Gregoire Courtine, from Zurich University (Switzerland), and colleagues were able to make paralyzed rats, whose spinal cords were severed from their brains, to run again. Consistent electrical stimulation and drugs enabled the rats to walk on their hind legs on a treadmill -- bearing the full weight of the body -- within a week of being paralysed. With the addition of physical therapy, the rodents were able after several weeks to walk and run without stumbling for up to 30 minutes.
