Paralysis News and Research

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Paralysis is the loss of muscle function in part of your body. It happens when something goes wrong with the way messages pass between your brain and muscles. Paralysis can be complete or partial. It can occur on one or both sides of your body. It can also occur in just one area, or it can be widespread. Paralysis of the lower half of your body, including both legs, is called paraplegia. Paralysis of the arms and legs is quadriplegia.

Experimental drug reverses multiple sclerosis damage in mouse model

A drug developed by a UVA Health scientist has not only stopped but reversed paralysis and vision loss in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

23 Sep 2026

Clinicians' words hold power to heal or harm patients

Dr. Wendy Harpham was 36 years old and a successful physician who prided herself on her empathy. Then she was diagnosed with cancer.

21 Sep 2026

One brain implant could give people with paralysis a more expressive way to communicate

Researchers showed that a single high-density ECoG implant could decode attempted speech and upper-body gestures in parallel in people with severe paralysis, allowing two participants to control a personalized full-body avatar. Training the decoders on both isolated and concurrent behaviors improved performance across contexts and reduced false activations, offering proof-of-concept evidence for more expressive multimodal BCIs.

16 Sep 2026

New brain computer interface restores simultaneous speech and physical gestures

A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded scientific team has shown that a new brain-computer interface (BCI) can allow people with vocal tract and bodily paralysis to convey both speech and upper-body gestures simultaneously.

15 Sep 2026

Review highlights challenges in managing childhood enterovirus infections

Enteroviruses (EVs) are a diverse group of viruses and a common cause of multiple infections in children.

1 Sep 2026

Targeted MS treatment protects the overall immune system

UZH researchers have developed a novel therapy for multiple sclerosis that is designed to stop the misguided immune response without suppressing the immune system as a whole.

1 Sep 2026

Shared protein pathology redefines treatment for multiple neurodegenerative diseases

On the surface, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE) might seem like unrelated diseases.

24 Aug 2026

IL-6 receptor blockers show promise for preventing MOGAD relapses

An international study led by Mayo Clinic researchers has identified interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor blockers as a promising option for preventing relapses in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD). MOGAD is a rare autoimmune neurological disorder that can cause vision loss, paralysis and other serious neurological complications.

6 Aug 2026

Penn State study identifies genetic regions linked to avian herpesvirus virulence

A highly contagious herpes virus causes Marek's disease, a deadly illness that mainly infects chickens. While it does not make people sick, the virus causes tumors and paralysis in chickens and, if unchecked, can spread rapidly through entire flocks.

3 Aug 2026

New discovery advances sustainable production of plant-based medicines

Two plants that cause neurotoxicity and paralysis in the tiniest doses are also known to counter pain, malaria, cancer and pests.

31 Jul 2026

ALS risk varies significantly across U.S. military service branches

Compared to Army veterans, men who are veterans of the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard have higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and men who are Marine veterans have lower rates, according to a new study published July 29, 2026, in Neurology®, an official journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

29 Jul 2026

Novel interventional approach successfully treats rare hepatic myelopathy

Hepatic myelopathy (HM) is a rare neurological complication of decompensated chronic liver disease that profoundly impairs quality of life.

28 Jul 2026

NIH grant funds study on stroke-related urinary incontinence

Urinary incontinence is a common but frequently overlooked consequence of stroke. Now, researchers from the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the brain changes responsible for these symptoms and develop a more personalized approach to treatment.

27 Jul 2026

Plasma exchange improves recovery in rare inflammatory nerve disease

Plasma exchange can help treat people with a rare inflammatory disease that can cause blindness, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published on July 22, 2026, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

22 Jul 2026

Distributed neural networks make decoding cognition vastly harder than movement

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have made remarkable progress restoring movement and speech in people with paralysis.

21 Jul 2026

Gentle electroacupuncture effectively promotes nerve repair in facial paralysis

Peripheral facial paralysis (PFP) affects around 38 out of every 100,000 people in China, leaving 2% to 29% of patients with lasting issues such as facial twisting, eye dryness, and muscle synkinesis.

20 Jul 2026

Study detects early warning signs of schistosomiasis drug resistance

Scientists have identified genetic changes in wild populations of the parasitic worm that causes schistosomiasis which may reduce its response to praziquantel, the only available treatment.

17 Jul 2026

Walking protein structure explains how cells activate molecular motors

A nerve cell resembles a vast tree with branches that communicate with thousands of other cells. To function, it depends on a motor protein that walks on two legs, hauling urgent cargo from the center of the cell to the faraway tips of every branch.

15 Jul 2026

New stem cell therapy offers hope for chronic spinal injury

New research presented today at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 2026 Annual Meeting highlights a significant step toward developing a stem cell-based treatment for chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), a condition for which no effective restorative therapy currently exists.

11 Jul 2026

New framework aligns neural implants with user's needs

Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, PhD, JD, and Amanda R. Merner, PhD, of the Health Technology Performance Lab within the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute, are the authors of a paper published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, "Implantable Neuromodulation Devices in Psychiatry: Human Fidelity and Implementation Challenges."

8 Jul 2026