Mix of brain training, physical therapy can help paralyzed patients
After year of treatment, paraplegics regain some muscle control, feeling
By Meghan Rosen
Training the brain could give paraplegics more control over their bodies.
After a year working with devices that link machine to brain, people paralyzed by spinal cord injuries were able to regain some movement and feeling in their legs, Miguel Nicolelis and colleagues report August 11 in Scientific Reports.
The training included an assortment of therapies with futuristic-looking gizmos, including virtual reality goggles and robotic exoskeletons that fasten over the body. All patients were better able to sense pain and touch, and half had their diagnosis upgraded from complete to partial paralysis.