Clinical Research

Rationale for NeuroStimulation in Spinal Cord Injury

The adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) is capable of considerable plasticity, which means it is able to form new neural connections, especially when injured. The neurons in the spinal cord and brain have been shown to compensate for injury and disease by adjusting their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.

After spinal neurotrauma, the degrees and extent of neuroplasticity and recovery depend on multiple factors, including the level and extent of injury, post-injury medical and surgical care, and rehabilitative interventions. Rehabilitation strategies focus less on repairing lost connections and more on influencing neural plasticity for regaining function. Current evidence indicates that strategies for rehabilitation, including passive exercise, active exercise with some voluntary control, and use of neuroprostheses, can enhance sensorimotor recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) by promoting adaptive structural and functional plasticity while mitigating maladaptive changes at multiple levels of the neuraxis.

In 2011 a fascinating case was first published by Susan J. Harkema in the “Lancet”, demonstrating the ability of a patient with chronic complete paralysis in executing voluntary tasks with selectivity of appropriate motor ability in the presence of Neurostimulation.

Three years later, the same group observed the recovery of voluntary movement in 3 paraplegic individuals with neurostimulation soon after implantation, two of whom had complete loss of both motor and sensory function. This shows that by stimulating the spinal circuitry at sub-threshold motor levels with neurostimulation, chronically complete paralysed individuals can process conceptual, auditory, and visual input to regain specific voluntary control of paralysed muscles.

Clinical Research

A patient registry is maintained by the University of Louisville for individuals who are interested in participating in clinical research studies on spinal cord injury.

We support the continued research efforts and urge others to participate in their research program. The availability of this therapy is fortunately available in many parts of the world.

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation have always been a fantastic partner and source of information for Spinal Cord Injury survivors.

Before considering treatments abroad please contact the foundation and/or the university if you qualify for the study. However, we qualify that we were not part of the original research nor are we related to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

https://victoryoverparalysis.org/participate-in-research
https://www.reevebigidea.org/