# Spinal cord stimulation allows four paraplegic men to move their legs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinal-cord-stimulation-allows-four-paraplegic-men-to-move-their-legs/685713>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 9, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinal-cord-stimulation-allows-four-paraplegic-men-to-move-their-legs/685713 "2014-04-09T14:00:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Oukile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@Oukile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oukile)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinal-cord-stimulation-allows-four-paraplegic-men-to-move-their-legs/685713/1 "2014-04-09T14:00:23Z")

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[Breakthrough therapy allows four paraplegic men to voluntarily move their legs](http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/four-paraplegic-men-voluntarily-271761.aspx?link_page_rss=271761)

> [@](#):
>
> All four participants were classified as suffering from chronic, motor complete spinal cord injuries and were unable to move their lower extremities prior to the implantation of an epidural stimulator. The stimulator delivers a continuous electrical current to the participants’ lower spinal cords, mimicking signals the brain normally transmits to initiate movement.  
> […]  
> [three out of four participants] were able to execute voluntary movements immediately following the implantation and activation of the stimulator.
> 
> The participants’ results and recovery time were unexpected, which led researchers to speculate that some pathways may be intact post-injury and therefore able to facilitate voluntary movements.

I happen to be a bit familiar with this field of study and enthusiastic about these results. Unassisted walking in paraplegic people is still far away, but this technique has a real potential for enhancing motor rehabilitation in people with incomplete injuries.

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**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinal-cord-stimulation-allows-four-paraplegic-men-to-move-their-legs/685713/2 "2014-04-09T20:05:24Z")

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I saw that on TV. I wonder of they’ll ever let women try it. (_snerk_)

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**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinal-cord-stimulation-allows-four-paraplegic-men-to-move-their-legs/685713/3 "2014-04-09T20:11:09Z")

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Wow, that is amazing. Last week we 3D-printed a skull and gave a woman a new one, this week we are seeing people move their legs. Man, it’s exciting being around in these times! 🙂