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PARIS — Scientists said on Monday that electrically stimulating a specific area of ​​the brain could help people with an injured spinal cord walk more easily, with one patient describing how the technique allowed him to overcome his fear of stairs.

The new technique is intended for people with a spinal cord injury where the connection between the brain and the spinal cord has not yet been completely severed and who still have some movement in their legs.

Wolfgang Jaeger, one of two patients who took part in an early trial, said it immediately made a “big difference” to his mobility.

“Now when I see a staircase with just a few steps, I know I can manage it alone,” the 54-year-old said in a video released alongside a new study in the journal Nature Medicine.

The research was conducted by a Swiss team that pioneered several recent developments, including the use of electrical stimulation of the spinal cord to help several paralyzed patients walk again.

This time, the researchers wanted to find out which part of the brain was most responsible for people’s recovery from spinal cord injuries.

‘I feel the urge to walk’

Using 3D imaging techniques to map the brain activity of mice with these injuries, the team created what they called a “brain-wide atlas.”

They were surprised to find that the brain area they were looking for was located in the lateral hypothalamus, which is also known as a regulator of arousal, nutrition and motivation.

A particular group of neurons in this region “seems to be involved in the recovery of walking after spinal cord injury,” neuroscientist Gregoire Courtine of Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The team then tried to boost the signal from these neurons using a procedure called deep brain stimulation, which is often used to treat movement problems in people with Parkinson’s disease.

This involves a surgeon implanting electrodes in the brain area, which are connected to a device that is implanted in the patient’s chest. When the device is turned on, it sends electrical pulses to the brain.

First, the team tested their theory on rats and mice and found that it “immediately” improved walking, the study said.

The first human participant in the 2022 Swiss trial was a woman who, like Jaeger, has an incomplete spinal cord injury.

Neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch told AFP that when the woman’s device was turned on for the first time, she said: “I can feel my legs.”

She said that when they turned up the electrical current, the woman noticed, “I feel the urge to walk.”

The patients were able to turn on their devices whenever they needed and also underwent months of rehabilitation and strength training.

The woman’s goal was to walk independently without a walker, while Jaeger’s goal was to climb stairs on her own.

“They both achieved their goals,” Bloch said.

‘No problem’

Jaeger, from the Swiss municipality of Kappel, said last year that during a holiday he had to take eight steps down to the sea.

With the device turned on, “walking up and down the stairs was no problem,” he said. “It’s a great feeling when you don’t have to rely on others all the time.”

Over time, he “became faster and could walk longer,” even when the device was turned off, he added.

More research is needed and this technique will not be effective for all patients, Courtine said.

Because it depends on amplifying the signal from the brain to the spinal cord, it depends on how much signal got through in the first place.

And while deep brain stimulation is now quite common, some people don’t feel as “comfortable with someone operating on their brain,” Courtine said.

The researchers believe that the best option to recover from these types of injuries in the future could be to stimulate both the spinal cord and the lateral hypothalamus.