Brain transplant enables paralysed monkeys to walk again and offers hope to paraplegics

Scientists have used a brain implant to help two paralysed monkeys walk again, offering hope that it could be used on patients within three years.

One monkey was walking around six days after its spinal cord was partially severed, while the other animal recovered within two weeks.

The implant acts as a wireless bridge between the brain and the spine, restoring communication between the two, and enabling the animals to walk again.

It detects neurons firing in the motor cortex, which controls movement, and sends the information to a similar array of electrodes in the spines of rhesus monkeys.

Doctors hope the device could soon allow severely disabled people or those affected by accidents or strokes to regain movement in their arms and legs.

The technique uses components that have been approved for research in humans, and researchers believe the development is a major step towards clinical trials in paraplegics.

Neurosurgeon Dr Jocelyne Bloch, of Lausanne University Hospital, who put the implants in the monkeys, said: "For the first time, I can imagine a completely paralysed patient able to move their legs through this brain-spine interface."

Professor Gregoire Courtine, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, added: "This is the first time neuro-technology restores locomotion in primates.

"But there are many challenges ahead, and it may take several years before all the components of this intervention can be tested in people."