Epidural electrical stimulation of the cervical dorsal roots restores voluntary upper limb control in paralyzed monkeys

Autor: Beatrice Barra, Sara Conti, Matthew G. Perich, Katie Zhuang, Giuseppe Schiavone, Florian Fallegger, Katia Galan, Nicholas D. James, Quentin Barraud, Maude Delacombaz, Mélanie Kaeser, Eric M. Rouiller, Tomislav Milekovic, Stephanie Lacour, Jocelyne Bloch, Grégoire Courtine, Marco Capogrosso
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature Neuroscience. 25:924-934
ISSN: 1546-1726
1097-6256
Popis: Regaining arm control is a top priority for people with paralysis. Unfortunately, the complexity of the neural mechanisms underlying arm control has limited the effectiveness of neurotechnology approaches. Here, we exploited the neural function of surviving spinal circuits to restore voluntary arm and hand control in three monkeys with spinal cord injury, using spinal cord stimulation. Our neural interface leverages the functional organization of the dorsal roots to convey artificial excitation via electrical stimulation to relevant spinal segments at appropriate movement phases. Stimulation bursts targeting specific spinal segments produced sustained arm movements, enabling monkeys with arm paralysis to perform an unconstrained reach-and-grasp task. Stimulation specifically improved strength, task performances and movement quality. Electrophysiology suggested that residual descending inputs were necessary to produce coordinated movements. The efficacy and reliability of our approach hold realistic promises of clinical translation.
This paper describes a neurotechnology that interacts with neural circuits in the spinal cord to restore arm and hand control after injury. With this implant, monkeys with paralysis recovered the ability to reach and grasp just a few days after injury.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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