• Education
    • Higher Education
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • Online Learning
    • School Reforms
    • Research & Innovation
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Home & Living
    • Relationships & Family
  • Technology & Startups
    • Software & Apps
    • Startup Success Stories
    • Startups & Innovations
    • Tech Regulations
    • Venture Capital
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Gadgets & Devices
    • Industry Analysis
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
Today Headline
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
Home Science & Environment Medical Research

Spinal cord electrical stimulation restores neural function in clinical trial

February 5, 2025
in Medical Research
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
spinal cord
6
SHARES
12
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


spinal cord
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new drug-free, minimally invasive intervention targets the root cause of progressive loss of neural function in spinal muscle atrophy (SMA), an inherited neuromuscular disease. An intervention, which involves electrical stimulation of the sensory spinal nerves, can gradually reawaken functionally silent motor neurons in the spinal cord and improve leg muscle strength and walking in adults with SMA.

The findings were reported by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in Nature Medicine.

Early results from a pilot clinical trial in three human volunteers with SMA show that one month of regular neurostimulation sessions improved motoneuron function, reduced fatigue and improved strength and walking in all participants, regardless of the severity of their symptoms.

The study is the first to show that a neurotechnology can be engineered to reverse degeneration of neural circuits and rescue cell function in a human neurodegenerative disease.

“To counteract neurodegeneration, we need two things—stop neuron death and restore function of surviving neurons,” said co-corresponding author Marco Capogrosso, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurosurgery at Pitt.

“In this study we proposed an approach to treat the root cause of neural dysfunction, complementing existing neuroprotective treatments with a new approach that reverses nerve cell dysfunction.”

SMA is a genetic neurodegenerative disease that manifests in progressive death and functional decline of motor neurons—nerve cells that control movement by transmitting signals from the brain and the spinal cord to the muscles.

Over time, the loss of motor neurons causes gradual muscle weakness, and leads to a variety of motor deficits, including, for the participants in this trial, difficulty in walking, climbing stairs and standing up from chairs.

While there is no cure for SMA, several promising neuroprotective treatments have become available in the last decade. These include gene replacement therapies and medications, both of which stimulate the production of motoneuron-supporting proteins that prevent neuronal death and that slow down—though do not reverse—disease progression.

Studies show that movement deficits in SMA emerge before widespread motoneuron death, suggesting that underlying dysfunction in spinal nerve circuitry may contribute to disease onset and symptom development.

According to earlier research on animal models of SMA by study co-author George Mentis, Ph.D., at Columbia University, surviving motor neurons receive fewer stimulation inputs from sensory nerves—fibers that return the information from skin and muscles back to the central nervous system.

Compensating for this deficit in neural feedback could, therefore, improve communication between the nervous system and the muscles, aid muscle movement and combat muscle wasting.

Pitt researchers hypothesized that a targeted epidural electrical stimulation therapy could be used to rescue lost nerve cell function by amplifying sensory inputs to the motor neurons and engaging the degenerated neural circuits. These cellular changes could, in turn, translate into functional improvements in movement capacity.

The Pitt study was conducted as part of a pilot clinical trial that enrolled three adults with milder forms of SMA (type 3 or 4 SMA).

During a study period of 29 days, participants were implanted with two spinal cord stimulation (SCS) electrodes that were placed in the lower back region on each side of the spinal cord, directing the stimulation exclusively to sensory nerve roots. Testing sessions lasted four hours each and were conducted five times a week for a total of 19 sessions, until the stimulation device was explanted.

After confirming that the stimulation worked as intended and engaged spinal motor neurons, researchers performed a battery of tests to measure muscle strength and fatigue, changes in gait, range of motion and walking distance, as well as motoneuron function.

“Because SMA is a progressive disease, patients do not expect to get better as time goes on. But that is not what we saw in our study. Over the four weeks of treatment, our study participants improved in several clinical outcomes with improvements in activities of daily living. For instance, toward the end of the study, one patient reported being able to walk from their home to the lab without becoming tired,” said co-corresponding author Elvira Pirondini, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Pitt.

All participants increased their “6-Minute Walk Test” score—a measure of muscle endurance and fatigue—by at least 20 meters, compared to a mean improvement of 1.4 meters over three months of comparable exercise regimen unaided by SCS and a median increase of 20 meters after 15 months of SMA-specific neuroprotective pharmacologic therapy.

These functional gains were mirrored by improved neural function, including a boost in motoneurons’ capacity to generate electrical impulses and transmit them to the muscles.

“Our results suggest that this neurostimulation approach could be broadly applied to treat other neurodegenerative diseases beyond SMA, such as ALS or Huntington’s disease, as long as appropriate cell targets are identified in the course of future research,” said co-corresponding author Robert Friedlander, M.D., chair of neurosurgery at Pitt and co-director of the UPMC Neurological Institute.

“We are hoping to continue working with SMA patients and launch another clinical trial to test the long-term efficacy and safety of electrical spinal cord stimulation.”

More information:
First-in-human study of epidural spinal cord stimulation in individuals with spinal muscular atrophy, Nature Medicine (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03484-8. www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03484-8

Provided by
University of Pittsburgh


Citation:
Spinal cord electrical stimulation restores neural function in clinical trial (2025, February 5)
retrieved 5 February 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-spinal-cord-electrical-neural-function.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.




spinal cord
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new drug-free, minimally invasive intervention targets the root cause of progressive loss of neural function in spinal muscle atrophy (SMA), an inherited neuromuscular disease. An intervention, which involves electrical stimulation of the sensory spinal nerves, can gradually reawaken functionally silent motor neurons in the spinal cord and improve leg muscle strength and walking in adults with SMA.

The findings were reported by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in Nature Medicine.

Early results from a pilot clinical trial in three human volunteers with SMA show that one month of regular neurostimulation sessions improved motoneuron function, reduced fatigue and improved strength and walking in all participants, regardless of the severity of their symptoms.

The study is the first to show that a neurotechnology can be engineered to reverse degeneration of neural circuits and rescue cell function in a human neurodegenerative disease.

“To counteract neurodegeneration, we need two things—stop neuron death and restore function of surviving neurons,” said co-corresponding author Marco Capogrosso, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurosurgery at Pitt.

“In this study we proposed an approach to treat the root cause of neural dysfunction, complementing existing neuroprotective treatments with a new approach that reverses nerve cell dysfunction.”

SMA is a genetic neurodegenerative disease that manifests in progressive death and functional decline of motor neurons—nerve cells that control movement by transmitting signals from the brain and the spinal cord to the muscles.

Over time, the loss of motor neurons causes gradual muscle weakness, and leads to a variety of motor deficits, including, for the participants in this trial, difficulty in walking, climbing stairs and standing up from chairs.

While there is no cure for SMA, several promising neuroprotective treatments have become available in the last decade. These include gene replacement therapies and medications, both of which stimulate the production of motoneuron-supporting proteins that prevent neuronal death and that slow down—though do not reverse—disease progression.

Studies show that movement deficits in SMA emerge before widespread motoneuron death, suggesting that underlying dysfunction in spinal nerve circuitry may contribute to disease onset and symptom development.

According to earlier research on animal models of SMA by study co-author George Mentis, Ph.D., at Columbia University, surviving motor neurons receive fewer stimulation inputs from sensory nerves—fibers that return the information from skin and muscles back to the central nervous system.

Compensating for this deficit in neural feedback could, therefore, improve communication between the nervous system and the muscles, aid muscle movement and combat muscle wasting.

Pitt researchers hypothesized that a targeted epidural electrical stimulation therapy could be used to rescue lost nerve cell function by amplifying sensory inputs to the motor neurons and engaging the degenerated neural circuits. These cellular changes could, in turn, translate into functional improvements in movement capacity.

The Pitt study was conducted as part of a pilot clinical trial that enrolled three adults with milder forms of SMA (type 3 or 4 SMA).

During a study period of 29 days, participants were implanted with two spinal cord stimulation (SCS) electrodes that were placed in the lower back region on each side of the spinal cord, directing the stimulation exclusively to sensory nerve roots. Testing sessions lasted four hours each and were conducted five times a week for a total of 19 sessions, until the stimulation device was explanted.

After confirming that the stimulation worked as intended and engaged spinal motor neurons, researchers performed a battery of tests to measure muscle strength and fatigue, changes in gait, range of motion and walking distance, as well as motoneuron function.

“Because SMA is a progressive disease, patients do not expect to get better as time goes on. But that is not what we saw in our study. Over the four weeks of treatment, our study participants improved in several clinical outcomes with improvements in activities of daily living. For instance, toward the end of the study, one patient reported being able to walk from their home to the lab without becoming tired,” said co-corresponding author Elvira Pirondini, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Pitt.

All participants increased their “6-Minute Walk Test” score—a measure of muscle endurance and fatigue—by at least 20 meters, compared to a mean improvement of 1.4 meters over three months of comparable exercise regimen unaided by SCS and a median increase of 20 meters after 15 months of SMA-specific neuroprotective pharmacologic therapy.

These functional gains were mirrored by improved neural function, including a boost in motoneurons’ capacity to generate electrical impulses and transmit them to the muscles.

“Our results suggest that this neurostimulation approach could be broadly applied to treat other neurodegenerative diseases beyond SMA, such as ALS or Huntington’s disease, as long as appropriate cell targets are identified in the course of future research,” said co-corresponding author Robert Friedlander, M.D., chair of neurosurgery at Pitt and co-director of the UPMC Neurological Institute.

“We are hoping to continue working with SMA patients and launch another clinical trial to test the long-term efficacy and safety of electrical spinal cord stimulation.”

More information:
First-in-human study of epidural spinal cord stimulation in individuals with spinal muscular atrophy, Nature Medicine (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03484-8. www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03484-8

Provided by
University of Pittsburgh


Citation:
Spinal cord electrical stimulation restores neural function in clinical trial (2025, February 5)
retrieved 5 February 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-spinal-cord-electrical-neural-function.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.



Tags: Health ResearchHealth Research NewsHealth ScienceMedicine ResearchMedicine Research NewsMedicine Science
Previous Post

Decorated pilot Harry Stewart, Jr., one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, dies at 100

Next Post

Some WA communities debate over removing fluoride in drinking water

Related Posts

food packaging

One in five packaged foods and drinks sold in the US contains synthetic dyes, study shows

June 25, 2025
5
restaurant kitchen

Emotional demands and confrontation in person-contact roles linked to heightened type 2 diabetes risk

June 24, 2025
7
Next Post
Some WA communities debate over removing fluoride in drinking water

Some WA communities debate over removing fluoride in drinking water

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

April 2, 2025
Pioneering 3D printing project shares successes

Product reduces TPH levels to non-hazardous status

November 27, 2024

Police ID man who died after Corso Italia fight

December 23, 2024

Hospital Mergers Fail to Deliver Better Care or Lower Costs, Study Finds todayheadline

December 31, 2024
Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power

Harris tells supporters ‘never give up’ and urges peaceful transfer of power

0
Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend's Mother

Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

0

Trump ‘looks forward’ to White House meeting with Biden

0
Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

0
US President Donald Trump, right, at a Nato leaders’ dinner at the same table as Giorgia Meloni

Why Nato fears the worst as Trump decides on US support for Europe

June 25, 2025

Morocco tourism sector revenues reach $3.7bln in 5 months

June 25, 2025
What the Club World Cup can tell us about comparing MLS to the Premier League and more

What the Club World Cup can tell us about comparing MLS to the Premier League and more

June 25, 2025
Morning Bid: A fragile ceasefire is good enough for markets

Morning Bid: A fragile ceasefire is good enough for markets todayheadline

June 25, 2025

Recent News

US President Donald Trump, right, at a Nato leaders’ dinner at the same table as Giorgia Meloni

Why Nato fears the worst as Trump decides on US support for Europe

June 25, 2025
3

Morocco tourism sector revenues reach $3.7bln in 5 months

June 25, 2025
4
What the Club World Cup can tell us about comparing MLS to the Premier League and more

What the Club World Cup can tell us about comparing MLS to the Premier League and more

June 25, 2025
2
Morning Bid: A fragile ceasefire is good enough for markets

Morning Bid: A fragile ceasefire is good enough for markets todayheadline

June 25, 2025
7

TodayHeadline is a dynamic news website dedicated to delivering up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage from around the globe.

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Basketball
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Change
  • Crime & Justice
  • Cybersecurity
  • Economic Policies
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Policies
  • Europe
  • Football
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Health
  • Medical Research
  • Mental Health
  • Middle East
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Science & Environment
  • Software & Apps
  • Space Exploration
  • Sports
  • Stock Market
  • Technology & Startups
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Us & Canada
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • World News

Recent News

US President Donald Trump, right, at a Nato leaders’ dinner at the same table as Giorgia Meloni

Why Nato fears the worst as Trump decides on US support for Europe

June 25, 2025

Morocco tourism sector revenues reach $3.7bln in 5 months

June 25, 2025
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Technology & Startups
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 Todayheadline.co

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Business & Finance
  • Corporate News
  • Economic Policies
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Market Trends
  • Crime & Justice
  • Court Cases
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Cybercrime
  • Legal Reforms
  • Policing
  • Education
  • Higher Education
  • Online Learning
  • Entertainment
  • Awards & Festivals
  • Celebrity News
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Health
  • Fitness & Nutrition
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemic Updates
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Politics
  • Elections
  • Government Policies
  • International Relations
  • Legislative News
  • Political Parties
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Industry Analysis
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Policies
  • Medical Research
  • Science & Environment
  • Space Exploration
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • Sports
  • Tennis
  • Technology & Startups
  • Software & Apps
  • Startup Success Stories
  • Startups & Innovations
  • Tech Regulations
  • Venture Capital
  • Uncategorized
  • World News
  • Us & Canada
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Travel
  • Research & Innovation
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • School Reforms
  • Stock Market
  • TV & Streaming
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About us
  • Contact

© 2024 Todayheadline.co