Remarkable advances are being made in the development and clinical applications of stimulation devices that enable recovery of motor function in patients who have suffered a spinal cord injury, a stroke, and even those with rare disabling genetic disorders. At the forefront of this research is Marco Capogrosso at the University of Pittsburgh. He has shown that certain patterns of stimulation of sensory pathways in the spinal cord can activate motor neurons that were otherwise silenced by the injury or stroke. Initial clinical trials have shown that this approach results in recovery of function which are in some cases very dramatic in patients that have had a stroke, a spinal cord injury, and in people with the genetic disorder spinal muscular atrophy. In this episode Dr. Capogrosso talks about the development of this stimulation-based therapeutic approach, the clinical trials, and the potential applications of this technology to other neurodegenerative disorders.

LINKS

Dr. Capogrosso’s profile at the University of Pittsburgh:

https://www.neurosurgery.pitt.edu/people/marco-capogrosso

Key studies discussed in this podcast:

Stroke

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10291889/pdf/nihms-1904547.pdf

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12393459/pdf/nihpp-rs7271578v1.pdf

Spinal cord injury

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5108412/pdf/emss-70056.pdf

https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(25)00658-0?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0896627325006580%3Fshowall%3Dtrue#

Spinal muscular atrophy

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03484-8