Accidented in 2006 during a ski fall with spinal cord injuries, an Austrian now aged 54 has been in a wheelchair since that date. But last year, thanks to research from EPFL and CHUV, he was able to regain partial use of his legs. “On vacation, I was able to go down a few steps and return to the sea,” he says on the EPFL website.
The technique used is “deep brain stimulation in a region of the brain little known to be involved in walking, the lateral hypothalamus,” explain the researchers. Traditionally, the technique was primarily used to treat movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor by targeting areas of the brain responsible for motor control.
“This research demonstrates that the brain plays a key role in the recovery process from paralysis,” explains Grégoire Courtine, professor of Neurosciences at EPFL. For the surgery, scientists used detailed brain scans to precisely place small electrodes in the brain.
“Once the electrode was in place and the stimulation was performed, the first patient immediately said: ‘I can feel my legs.’ When we increased the stimulation, she said, ‘I want to walk.’ This confirmed that we had targeted the correct region, although it has never been associated with leg control in humans. At that moment, I knew that we were witnessing a major discovery in the anatomical organization of brain functions,” says Jocelyne Bloch, professor at CHUV, UNIL and EPFL.
Future research will focus on integrating stimulation with other technologies, such as spinal cord implants.
Related News :