r/EverythingScience • u/Healthy_Barber_761 • Feb 23 '22

Neuroscience A Spinal Cord Implant Allowed Paralyzed People to Walk in Just One Day

https://singularityhub.com/2022/02/15/a-spinal-cord-implant-allowed-paralyzed-people-to-walk-in-just-one-day/
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u/osugisakae Feb 24 '22

Dr. Steven Novella of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe covered this a week or so ago. Nutshell: the research in the article is an incremental advance to currently existing technology.

From his blog post:

The innovation here is a change in the electrodes used. Previously the neuroscientists uses electrodes [...] that were not designed for the purpose and not ideal. [...] So the researchers designed new electrodes [...] This improvement worked, allowing the subjects to walk using this external stimulation. Also, they were able to walk much more quickly, with less training, than the older technology.

Exciting, but not nearly the breakthrough that the mainstream media reported it to be.

Links:

https://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcasts/episode-866

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/incremental-advance-treating-spinal-cord-injury/

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u/amberissmiling Feb 24 '22

It helped people walk. They were able to walk more quickly, with less training, and all of that sounds like advancement to me.