{"id":33951,"date":"2017-01-30T00:23:34","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T08:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/how-it-works-a-system-that-reverses-paralysis"},"modified":"2017-06-04T13:48:56","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T20:48:56","slug":"how-it-works-a-system-that-reverses-paralysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/how-it-works-a-system-that-reverses-paralysis","title":{"rendered":"How It Works: A System That Reverses Paralysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/how-it-works-a-system-that-reverses-paralysis.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For decades, researchers have been seeking ways to help the millions of people with spinal cord injuries regain control of their limbs, with frustratingly little success. The new device provides a rare glimmer of hope. Scientists at the University of Louisville\u2019s Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, where Meas and three other patients received their im\u00adplants, speculate that the stimu\u00adlation may be reawakening connections between the brain and the body. \u201cThere\u2019s residual circuitry that we can recover that no one realized was possible to do,\u201d says Reggie Edgerton, director of the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles. \u201cWe were shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some of the benefits, such as better bowel and bladder control and improved blood pressure, remain even when the device is switched off. Electrical stimulation isn\u2019t a cure, of course. The patients still can\u2019t walk. And the stimulation must be customized for each individual, a time-consuming process. But it\u2019s an enormous advance nonetheless. Says Edgerton, \u201cIt opens up a whole new mechanism of recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"display:none;\" class=\"\" style=\"\" typeof=\"foaf: Image\" alt=\"\" data-smsrc=\"http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/small_1x_\/public\/import\/2014\/bodymap.jpg?itok=HD1wsVve\" data-medsrc=\"http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/medium_1x_\/public\/import\/2014\/bodymap.jpg?itok=pA9sitFT\" data-xlsrc=\"http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/xl_1x_\/public\/import\/2014\/bodymap.jpg?itok=ezbhxVAt\" src=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/how-it-works-a-system-that-reverses-paralysis.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!-- Link: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/article\/science\/how-it-works-system-reverses-paralysis?con=TrueAnthem&amp;dom=fb&amp;src=SOC&amp;utm_campaign=&amp;utm_content=588eeca9b8a9fe000771c69f&amp;utm_medium=&amp;utm_source=\">http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/article\/science\/how-it-works-system-re...tm_source=<\/a> --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For decades, researchers have been seeking ways to help the millions of people with spinal cord injuries regain control of their limbs, with frustratingly little success. The new device provides a rare glimmer of hope. Scientists at the University of Louisville\u2019s Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, where Meas and three other patients received their [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":413,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/413"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33951"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65244,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33951\/revisions\/65244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}