Spinal Cord Injury News and Research

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A spinal cord injury usually begins with a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that fractures or dislocates vertebrae. The damage begins at the moment of injury when displaced bone fragments, disc material, or ligaments bruise or tear into spinal cord tissue. Most injuries to the spinal cord don't completely sever it. Instead, an injury is more likely to cause fractures and compression of the vertebrae, which then crush and destroy the axons, extensions of nerve cells that carry signals up and down the spinal cord between the brain and the rest of the body. An injury to the spinal cord can damage a few, many, or almost all of these axons. Some injuries will allow almost complete recovery. Others will result in complete paralysis.

Robotic therapy for cerebral palsy

Over the past few years, MIT engineers have successfully tested robotic devices to help stroke patients learn to control their arms and legs. Now, they're building on that work to help children with cerebral palsy.

20 May 2009

New common pathway in neurodegenerative disease is a possible door to a point of no return

A just-out study suggests that what keeps chronic nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and ALS going - until they overcome the internal protective mechanisms a body can throw at them - may largely come down to poor conversational skills.

9 Apr 2009

Researchers regenerate axons necessary for voluntary movement

For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement.

6 Apr 2009

By shutting down inflammation, agent reverses damage from spinal cord injury in preclinical studies

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have been able to speed recovery and substantially reduce damage resulting from spinal cord injury in preclinical studies.

1 Apr 2009

Astrocytes help separate man from mouse

A type of brain cell that was long overlooked by researchers embodies one of very few ways in which the human brain differs fundamentally from that of a mouse or rat, according to researchers who published their findings as the cover story in the March 11 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

23 Mar 2009

Therapeutic hypothermia is promising strategy to minimize tissue damage

Recognition of the benefits of cooling strategies to protect the brain and spinal cord after traumatic injury has led to a wealth of cutting edge research, prime examples of which are featured in a special hypothermia issue of Journal of Neurotrauma , a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

20 Mar 2009

Protein called Shp2 is key to embryonic stem cell differentiation

Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have learned that a protein called Shp2 plays a critical role in the pathways that control decisions for differentiation or self-renewal in both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs).

20 Mar 2009

Potential pathway for drug intervention

A newly identified molecular pathway that directs stem cells to produce glial cells yields insights into the neurobiology of Down's syndrome and a number of central nervous system disorders characterized by too many glial cells, according to a recent study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

15 Mar 2009

Multiple route bone marrow stem cell injections show promise to treat spinal cord injury

Researchers from DaVinci Biosciences, Costa Mesa, California, in collaboration with Hospital Luis Vernaza in Ecuador, have determined that injecting a patient's own bone marrow-derived stem cells (autologous BMCs) directly into the spinal column using multiple routes can be an effective treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI) that returns some quality of life for SCI patients without serious adverse events.

12 Mar 2009

Advances in stem cell research

Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are on the forefront of stem cell research, developing novel therapies designed to generate heart cells, repair traumatic lung injuries, grow new bone and stanch the spread of cancer cells.

8 Mar 2009

Scientists make electrically active motor neurons from iPS cells

Stem cells scientists at UCLA showed for the first time that human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be differentiated into electrically active motor neurons, a discovery that may aid in studying and treating neurological disorders.

25 Feb 2009

Researchers generate functional neurons from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells

In a new study, researchers were able to generate functionally mature motor neurons from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are engineered from adult somatic cells and can differentiate into most other cell types.

24 Feb 2009

Funding injection for spinal injury research

Three of the projects are ambitious multi-centred trials involving an array of different interventions including electrically-stimulated exercises for the paralysed muscles and computer-based training for the quadriplegic hand.

16 Feb 2009

Physical therapists test mechanical arm to help patients recover from stroke, traumatic brain injury

Physical therapists at UT Southwestern Medical Center are evaluating a new mechanical arm that allows people recovering from neurological injuries such as strokes and traumatic brain injury to enter a virtual world where they can repeatedly practice movements needed to regain arm strength and movement.

2 Feb 2009

Gene provides hope for restoring injured nerves

University of Utah scientists identified a worm gene that is essential for damaged nerve cells to regenerate, and showed they could speed nerve regeneration by over-activating the gene - a step toward new treatments for nerves injured by trauma or disease

23 Jan 2009