Natural sensations induced in arm of paralysed man

Scientists at Caltech have induced natural sensations in the arm of a paralysed man by stimulating the brain with an array of electrodes.

The patient has a high-level spinal cord lesion and cannot move his limbs or feel them. The work at Caltech could one day allow paralysed people using prosthetic limbs to feel physical feedback from sensors placed on these devices.

The research was done in the laboratory of Richard Andersen, James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience, T&C Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center Leadership Chair, and director of the T&C Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center. A paper describing the work appears in eLife.

The somatosensory cortex is the part of the brain that governs proprioceptive sensations, which are sensations of movement or the body's position in space; and cutaneous sensations, such as feeling pressure, vibration, and touch. According to the paper, spinal cord injuries disrupt these messages. Even though the somatosensory cortex has not been damaged, sensation is lost for the affected body areas. As no treatment exists to repair the spinal cord the loss of sensation is permanent.