In 2006, Wolfgang Jäger was in his 30s when a skiing accident left the young Austrian wheelchair-bound from a spinal cord injury.
Fast-forward to today, where an innovative deep-brain stimulation technique is helping the 54-year-old Jäger walk and move again.
Patients who lose the use of their hands and arms after a stroke or traumatic brain injury could regain some function through deep brain stimulation (DBS), new research demonstrates.
DBS involves surgical placement of electrodes to deliver electrical impulses to areas of...
The care of people seriously harmed by spinal cord injury can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a new analysis suggests that ability to pay influences how long a patient remains on life support.
In a study of more than 8,400 U.S. adults with severe spinal cord i...
A fish might hold clues to healing spinal cord injuries in humans, researchers report.
The damaged nerve cells of zebrafish can survive a spinal cord injury, eventually restoring full movement in the fish.
That’s very unlike humans and most other mammals, in ...
"Smart"prosthetic legs can help amputees achieve a natural walking gait, but it's done through robotic sensors and algorithms that drive the limb forward at predetermined rates.
A better way would be to give people full control over the limb through their nervous system ...
Spinal cord injuries can cause the body to go haywire, with misfiring nerves causing dangerous "fight-or-flight"responses.
This makes typical and normally harmless problems like having a full bladder prompt life-threatening complications like heart attack, stroke and sev...
A tiny, flexible device that wraps around the spinal cord could be a breakthrough in the treatment of spinal injuries.
The device, developed by a University of Cambridge team, can record 360-degree information and provide a complete picture of spinal cord activity, resea...
Patients with a spinal cord injury frequently develop diabetes and heart health problems, and researchers now think they know why.
It appears that neuron activity following the injury causes...
Tapping the power of the small brain region called the cerebellum could improve patients' ability to move cutting-edge robotic limbs, a new study suggests.
The cerebellum is an ancient structure located under the brain, just above where the spinal cord connects to the br...
Stem cells derived from a patient's own fat can safely help improve sensation and movement after a spinal cord injury, a new, small study finds.
Patients treated with these stem cells experienced increased sensation from pinpricks and light touches, increased muscle stre...
It's hard for some folks who suffer illness-related urinary incontinence to judge whether they'll be able to hold it until they get home, or if they should rush to a bathroom now.
<...A new robotic hip exoskeleton could help stroke patients improve their walking stride, a new study shows.
More than 80% of stroke survivors develop problems walking, often because their step is shorter on one side than the other, researchers explained in background notes...
Fabrizio wasn't sure what to expect of his newly outfitted prosthetic hand, until he touched one of the researchers who'd given it to him.
"When one of the researchers placed the sensor on his own body, I could feel the warmth of another person with my phantom hand,"said...
Elon Musk, co-founder of Neuralink, said this week that the company placed the first brain implant in a human over the weekend.
In a statement posted on X, the platform former...
A spinal cord injury can trigger muscle wasting in patients, causing them to drop more weight and muscle mass than can be explained solely by their paralysis, a new study in mice warns.
This muscle wasting is rapid and severe, and it appears to be linked to a hormone imb...
Many people with Lou Gehrig's disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), first start to lose the ability to move their arms and legs.
That's not Pat Bennett. She can move just fine. She can still dress herself, and she can even use her fingers to type.
...A severe spinal cord injury is traumatic enough, but new research now shows that trauma can trigger an immune deficiency that puts patients at risk for developing life-threatening infections.
A new study from a team of international researchers sheds light on spinal cor...
Age blunts the immune system's ability to respond to spinal cord injuries, new animal research indicates.
But researchers working with mice also found that the membranes surrounding the spinal cord play a key role in the immune response to spinal cord injury, a dis...
A Dutch man with paralyzed legs can now stand and walk, thanks to a wireless brain-spine interface that responds to his thoughts by moving his legs.
Gert-Jan Oskam, 40, suffered a spinal cord injury 11 years ago from a bike accident in China that left him unable to walk....
Dangerously low blood pressure is considered an "invisible"consequence of paralysis, adding to the woes of as many as 9 out of 10 people with spinal cord injuries.
Now, a new implant has been developed that treats the problem by delivering electrical stimulation to a sel...
It's a brutal reality that confronts many recovering stroke patients: After six months or so of rehab, any arm and hand movement not yet restored is unlikely to return.
A severely paralyzed person no longer needs to go through brain surgery to try and steer a motorized wheelchair with their mind, researchers report.
Through an electrode-studded cap placed on their head, several people with quadriplegia -- no function in all four limbs -...
In an advance in treating spinal cord injuries, researchers have pinpointed nerve cells that are key to allowing people with paralysis to walk again.
The findings come, in part, from nine patients involved in an ongoing Swiss study that is seeking to restore movemen...
While adults typically need steroid medication to treat Bell's palsy, mo...
Singer Justin Bieber said Tuesday that he will take a break from touring while he takes care of his health.
Bieber has a condition known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which...
Poliovirus detected in New York City wastewater last week put public health officials on high alert, as it indicates the potentially paralyzing virus is circulating widely in the area.
But infectious disease experts say there's no need for families of fully vaccinated ch...
Actor Ashton Kutcher is opening up about dealing with a rare condition called vasculitis that for a time left him seriously disabled.
In an episode of "Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge,"airing Aug. 14 on National Geographic channel, Kutcher, 44, reveals that ...
A drug in development as a cancer therapy may also help the body regenerate damaged nerves after spinal injuries, new research suggests.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom report that they used cell and animal models to show that the drug, d...
A brighter future could be in store for people with a spinal cord injury if new animal research pans out in humans.
Mice that were paralyzed due to severe spinal cord damage regained the ability to walk within four weeks of receiving an experimental injectable therapy, s...
A handful of "locked-in" amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients can now work a laptop computer using their brain waves, thanks to an implant lodged in a major vein inside their skull.
T...
Unable to move a single muscle, even to open your eyes. Completely locked into your own body, yet fully conscious and aware.
In a finding that reinforces the safety of COVID vaccines, a new study shows that while the shots don't raise the risk of rare neurological problems, COVID-19 infection might.
The researchers focused on four immune-related neurological disorders:
Adults with spinal cord injuries have a high risk of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues -- and chronic pain is a major factor, according to a new study.
Researchers analyzed private insurance claims from more than 9,000 U.S. adults with a traumatic s...
A motorcycle crash left Michel Roccati with complete lower-body paralysis from a devastating spinal cord injury.
That was in 2017.
But now, the Italian native is walking again, courtesy of groundbreaking Swiss research that restores motor function within one day b...
Spinal cord injuries in childhood are devastating no matter how they happen, but new research suggests that kids felled by gunshots are even worse off than those who suffer such an injury nonviolently.
Tight blood pressure control -- not too high and not too low -- during surgery for spinal cord injuries may improve patients' outcomes, a new study suggests.
"Damage to neurons in spinal cord injuries leads to dysregulation of blood pressure, which in turn limits the sup...
Severe spinal cord injuries are incurable today in humans, but a new injectable therapy that restored motion in laboratory mice could pave the way for healing paralyzed people.
The therapy -- liquid nanofibers that gel around the damaged spinal cord like a soothing ...
Survivors of spinal cord injuries who develop resilience are able to adapt and thrive despite the challenges, according to a researcher who himself is a resilient survivor.
"For someone with a cord injury, your margin for surviving even small mistakes when it comes to yo...
After a stroke, the best time to work on regaining hand and arm use is 60 to 90 days later, according to a new clinical trial.
Starting intensive rehab at less than 30 days can be helpful, too, but waiting until six months can be too late for maximum benefit, said resear...