For many patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, walking normally simply isn’t possible. Scientists believe this is because Parkinson’s disrupts the signals that the brain and the legs send to each other in order to move. Based upon this inference, scientists in Canada have been testing implants on Parkinson’s that gives a little electric stimulation to the spine in order to boost the signals that the brain sends to the legs, and back. The result? It worked. The electrical stimulus was found to reawaken the feedback mechanism from legs to the brain that has been damaged by the disease, allowing the patients to walk freely once more. What was even more fascinating is that the treatment was long-lasting and worked even when the implant was turned off. Although more widespread tests of the implant will have to be conducted, the results paint a brighter future for people with Parkinson’s.
Parkinson’s patients walk freely once more thanks to electrical stimulus
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