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" In 2009 V. Reggie Edgerton and Yury Gerasimenko, two spinal researchers from UCLA, teamed up with Susan Harkema, rehabilitation director at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injurt Research Center, and Joel Burdick, a CalTech Bioengineer, to test the effects electrical stimulation on a human spinal cord. They and their star patient, former college baseball player Rob Summers, came to today&amp;#039;s Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Conference to tell us what they learned from their therapy that gave Summers back some voluntary movement. Mysteries of the Spine Before Rob Summers, spinal experts thought that the spine functioned purely as a transmission line between the brain and the extremities, Edgerton says. However, after studying the effects of electrical stimulation on the spine, researchers discovered that it plays a much more prominent role in human locomotion than previously thought. According to Edgerton the spine has an element of &amp;quot;automaticity,&amp;quot; or the ability to control the extremities on its own. For example, to get Summers to stand, the researchers just stimulated the spine with electricity, and the spine took care of the rest. The same goes for movement. The spine can interpret sensory information from the legs (position, spatial relation) and will automatically adjust as you walk.  Stimulation of the Spine Although the connection between Summers&amp;#039; brain and spine is severed, the communication lines between the legs and the spine are still intact. In order to get Summers to walk again, researchers needed to determine how much stimulation they needed to apply to the spine to get it to start accepting signals coming from the legs. Too much stimulation would cause Summers to move involuntarily, Edgerton says, so the researchers needed to &amp;quot;change the &amp;#039;mood&amp;#039; of the spinal cord to accept the signals.&amp;quot; Once they determined the proper levels of stimulation, Rob&amp;#039;s body took care of the rest: He could stand, move his toes, ankles, knees and hips, and even walk.  Spine Brain Relation Watching Summers stand on his own two feet again was quite a moment. &amp;quot;We were forced to rethink the relationship between the brain and the spine,&amp;quot; Edgerton says. While the brain sends the intent to walk, it&amp;#039;s up to the spinal cord to sort out the details, he says, and Harkema and Edgerton stress that the sensory information exchanged between the spine and the body is just as important as the information exchanged between the brain and the spine. For example, even after the stimulation was turned off, Summers&amp;#039; body began to resume normal functions: Circulation levels and blood pressure returned back to normal, and he began to sweat again, a crucial function in regulating body temperature. This was the result of exciting communication between spine and limb, Harkema says. The Future of Spinal Therapy With the success of Summers&amp;#039; recovery, Harkema says that within five to 10 years electro-stimulation of the spine will spark a revolution in how paralysis rehabilitation is performed. Today, most recovery efforts focus on teaching a patient how to live with the disability. However, with spinal stimulation, there&amp;#039;s now a chance for patients to recover their lost mobility. The plasticity of the spine\u2014its ability to relearn old behaviors\u2014is the key to getting functionality back to paralysis victims. &amp;quot;Now, recovery can happen,&amp;quot; she says. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a7154/4-lessons-from-a-breakthrough-spinal-stimulation-treatment/>