It looks like a movie script, but it’s still very real (source 1). Of the Swiss researchers put your finger on the type of neuron which must be stimulated in order for some patients paralyzed for years they have been able, perhaps, to regain their lost mobility. Led by Jocelyne Bloch, neurosurgeon at the Vaud University Hospital Center and Grégoire Courtine, neuroscientist at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, these teams, composed of a sixties engineers, doctors and neuroscientists have developed installations for sending purposes electrical stimulation in the spinal cord. To support their discovery, a she studies published in the magazine Nature (source 2), shows that they have achieved this medical feat new of their patients with partial paralysis. The observation is promising: the patients were able to “walk again”, “muscle up” afterwards electrical stimuli.
A persistent improvement
The two specialists, Jocelyne Bloch and Grégoire Courtine, state that at the end of the therapy the patient’s motor skills do not decreasedespite cessation of artificial electrical stimulation.
“We demonstrate that our method was effective in nine patients. We also reveal that six months after their rehabilitation, they have recovered a neurological function that they had lost for years,” explains Jocelyne Bloch.
This notion of sustainability treatment through neuronal reactivation by electrical stimuli is promising for all those who had no hope of regaining mobility. Scientists warn, however, that the more severe the injuries affecting the spinal cord, the worse the recovery.
The discovery of Vsx2
Thanks to their work, the teams of researchers were able to form a « atlas of neurons », including those that allow you to walk again. appointed «Vsx2»these neurons have been found using of the algorithms et of artificial intelligence. Once the scientists had created their atlas, they were able to “navigate” between the different neurons to find out what the function of each of them was. This new tool also allows follow the evolution extremely precise healing. These neurons aren’t necessarily fired when you’re healthy, but if there’s a spinal cord injury, they’re the ones that will take over.
“It’s a bit as if the injury caused a kind of cellular chaos in which the Vsx2 has taken over, to restore order,” explains Jocelyne Bloch.
This discovery could be the beginning of the convergence of scientific prowess and new opportunities related to artificial intelligence.
