Electrically stimulating a damaged spinal cord as part of rehabilitation therapy may enhance improvements in movement.

Steve Perlmutter at the University of Washington in Seattle and his team bruised the spinal cords of rats to partially paralyse the animals' forelimbs. They then used a neural–computer interface connected to the limb muscles and spinal cord to direct an electrical pulse to just below the damaged spinal area whenever the device detected activity in the weakened muscles.

Rats that received pulses for several weeks recovered their ability to reach for and grasp food pellets with their forelimbs to a greater extent than those that did not receive pulses. The stimulated rats maintained their recovery even after the stimulation was stopped, suggesting that it induced lasting changes in the spinal cord. The scientists suggest that the approach might also work in the clinic.

Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA http://doi.org/7q4 (2015)