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Paralyzed Man Uses Own Brainwaves To Walk Again -- No Exoskeleton Required

Posted by timothy on from the short-steps-for-now dept.

Zothecula writes: A man suffering complete paralysis in both legs has regained the ability to walk again using electrical signals generated by his own brain. Unlike similar efforts that have seen paralyzed subjects walk again by using their own brainwaves to manually control robotic limbs, the researchers say this is the first time a person with complete paralysis in both legs due to spinal cord injury was able to walk again under their own power and demonstrates the potential for noninvasive therapies to restore control over paralyzed limbs.

18 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. Cool by Ronin+Developer · · Score: 2

    Next, we will hear how he was attacked by an inflatable flying shark.

    Seriously, this is a pretty radical advance.

    1. Re:Cool by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      I too had just read the mind-control-shark headline nearby and for a split second mixed the two stories, picturing a walking shark:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

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      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Cool by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      "They can fix a spine, but not on VA benefits, not in this economy."

      This is actually seriously cool - bypassing the broken wiring (or extending unbroken wiring). Obviously first baby steps but give it a decade or two, could be very, very interesting.

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      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    3. Re:Cool by sims+2 · · Score: 1

      The above post is incoherent and unintelligible.
      It reads like a SCIgen paper.

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    4. Re:Cool by St.Creed · · Score: 1

      Dude, don't drink *and* do drugs *and* post at the same time. You can drink and do drugs, or you can do drugs and post, but combining them gets messy very fast, as your post illustrates in lurid detail.

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    5. Re:Cool by MobSwatter · · Score: 1

      Technically, I do like my beer and whiskey, but I do not do drugs. Enjoy your sleep.

    6. Re:Cool by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Did you forget to check the 'post anonymously' box?

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    7. Re: Cool by george1101 · · Score: 1

      This is no joke. Gordan freeman will literally make you shit yourself from the unobservable part of the universe... Secondary content aside. This man is a complete badass in the face of inescapable odds. He literally does not accept how the universe made him to be.. Fear him but most importantly, seriously in reality as you know.. Fear the guy with the guy with the technological advancements that causes the world to change the universe. Yes it is a big step to take... But eventually every one will realise the threat is not on our planet....

    8. Re:Cool by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      The post is far better to read than the gay nigger one any day.

      Well, it's shorter , I'll give you that.

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      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    9. Re:Cool by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Technically, I do like my beer and whiskey, but I do not do drugs. Enjoy your sleep.

      Anti-psychotic medicines count as drugs. If you are the original AC, you appear to have FORGOTTEN to take them befor posting.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  2. Read the comments from the source by TomR+teh+Pirate · · Score: 1

    So much idiocy in so little space. Concerning the technical details of the article, I can't help but wonder if this person is in a similar danger to diabetics who get minor injuries to their legs and are unaware of it due to neuropathy, only to then get infections that lead to eventual amputation. My grandmother was one such person. This tech seems more like a bridge than a solution to the important problem of inducing nerve regeneration / replacement.

    1. Re:Read the comments from the source by Ronin+Developer · · Score: 5, Informative

      Did you actually read the article? They were able to stimulate the nerves in the legs by interpreting the brain waves detected by an electroencephalograph. They acknowledged that there is no feedback to the brain (as of yet) to restore feeling. This has nothing to do with nerve regeneration.

      Diabetic neuropathy is the result of damaged nerves from too much glucose. I, like many other diabetics, face it as a real possibility. I also acknowledge that the cause for DN is from the high glucose levels damaging the nerves. Regeneration will only delay the inevitable. Instead, they need to find ways to restore proper insulin production and to reverse insulin resistance.

      The technique in the article is a first bridge and a monumental step forward to restoring mobility at a time when nerve regeneration isn't yet possible.

    2. Re:Read the comments from the source by sims+2 · · Score: 2

      There was an article about trying to repair the nerves in the spine earlier this month.
      From last week: Damaged Spinal Cord "Rewires" Itself With Help of Electrical Stimulation.
      http://science.slashdot.org/st...

      Much work still to be done.

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    3. Re: Read the comments from the source by TomR+teh+Pirate · · Score: 1

      You didn't dispute anything I said. So yes, I read the article...

  3. Re:So religious healing does have merit by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

    If research leads to an engineering solution and an understood technology, then it ceases to fall under even the sloppiest definition of "miracle".

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  4. Re:So religious healing does have merit by Iamthecheese · · Score: 1

    Aeronautics was neither an industry nor a science. It was a miracle.

    - Igor Sikorsky

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
  5. I think I heard about this by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    John Wayne starred in the movie. I remember Dan Daley playing a ukulele and singing "I'm gonna move that toe" - probably was meant as an inspiration, but I think it just kept annoying the heck out of the paralyzed guy until he got motivated enough to walk again just so he could punch the ukulele player in the mouth.

    Wait, we're not talking about something that happened in the 1940s?

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  6. Solve the real problem by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2

    "We're gonna connect you back up to the nerves below the back break."

    "Finally! Thank you, doctor!"

    "There you go, you can walk again. Aww, don't cry!'

    "My legs aren't what I wanted you to hook the nerves to!"

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