So far there have been various advancements made when it comes to help humans who are paralyzed to go about their daily lives. For example for some patients who are completely paralyzed, researchers have come up with ways to allow them to control certain objects like wheelchairs, robotic arms, and type out sentences using their brain.
Granted we’re sure that many of these patients would much rather be able to walk again, and the good news is that it looks like we are one step closer. According to a recent study that was published in science journal Nature (via Gizmodo), neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine and team of colleagues at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, and with help from researchers at the University of Bordeaux, Motac Neuroscience, and the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), they have created a brain implant that has allowed a paralyzed monkey to walk again.
So how does this work? Basically in paralysis, a spinal cord lesion prevents brain signals from the motor cortex to reach neurons that in turn activate your muscles. Because the nerves in the spinal cord do not heal spontaneously, trying to heal it via medicine has not yielded much luck. So what this implant does is that it bridges the injured spinal cord, thus allowing the signals to be passed on, and in turn allowed the monkey to walk again.
Obviously it will be a while before we see it being used to treat humans, but for now it is definitely an exciting step in the right direction.