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Rehabilitation

Boost for movement

Nature volume 527, pages 314–315 (2015)Cite this article

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A Correction to this article was published on 25 November 2015

This article has been updated

By electrically stimulating the motor neurons of rats that have spinal-cord injury, in bursts that are attuned to the times at which the neurons receive voluntary motor commands, the animals' recovery can be improved.

People with spinal-cord injury face a host of challenges, including sensory, bowel, bladder and sexual dysfunction, paralysis and weakness. Although rehabilitation can help to improve motor and sensory function, recovery is limited. But writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, McPherson et al.1 show that rats with spinal-cord injury can recover substantial motor ability when treated with a new type of electrical-stimulation therapy.

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Figure 1: Precisely timed spinal-cord stimulation.

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  • 20 November 2015

    A statement of competing financial interests has been added.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Randolph J. Nudo is in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Landon Center on Aging, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA.,

    Randolph J. Nudo

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  1. Randolph J. Nudo
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Correspondence to Randolph J. Nudo.

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Competing interests

The author is co-founder and Interim CEO of NeuraLink Technologies, LLC, which is performing research and development on similar technologies.

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Regenerative medicine: Drawing breath after spinal injury

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Nudo, R. Boost for movement. Nature 527, 314–315 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/527314a

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