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Reverse Paralysis Essay

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Reversal of Paralysis Scientists have been making progress at trying to use brain implants to restore the damage of a spinal cord injury or a broken neck, also known as paralysis. Paralysis is when you lose function in part of your body due to complications in your muscles. This occurs when something goes wrong with the messages that are supposed to be sent to your brain and muscles. The most common cause of paralysis is due to injuries such as spinal cord, broken neck or strokes (MedlinePlus).
Reverse paralysis is something researchers have been interested in for years. In the past, lab animals and a very few amount of people have controlled robotic arms or computer cursors simply with what they were thinking because of the brain implant wired to the machines. Nowadays researchers are much more in-touch with technology and ready to reverse paralysis for good. Instead of having brain implants wired to machines, they are now wirelessly connected to the brain, directly …show more content…

Courtine’s goal was to prove that he was able to retrieve function back and get the monkey walking again. Courtine and his research team sliced down through the monkey’s spinal cord, leaving it paralyzed in the right leg. To do so, he placed a recording device behind the monkey’s skull, touching the motor cortex. The devices were made out of silicon and were described as smaller than a post stamp. They also had a bunch of hair-like metal probes that were able to detect the electrical signals that the neurons sent. Then they sewed pieces of flexible electrodes below the injury and around the monkey’s spinal cord. The two electronic devices were wirelessly connected. This specific system was able to read the monkey’s mind in wanting to move and immediately after, sent electrical stimulation to the spine. Resulting in movement of the monkey’s right leg, that was once paralyzed (Regalado

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