Paired Brain and Spinal Cord Stimulation Study from Movement Recovery Lab Published in Clinical Neurophysiology

The Movement Recovery Laboratory and colleagues have shown that a carefully timed combination of brain and spinal cord stimulation can help muscles respond better in people living with spinal cord injury. Skilled movement depends on communication between motor pathways in the brain and sensory networks in the spinal cord. The new study demonstrates that when non-invasive stimulation to the brain and cervical spinal cord is timed to arrive simultaneously in the spinal cord, responses in arm and hand muscles are significantly augmented. This suggests that residual circuits after spinal cord injury can still support enhanced muscle contraction when carefully timed.

The team combined experiments in 16 people living with chronic cervical spinal cord injury and 15 uninjured participants. Compared to their previous intraoperative work in elective spine surgeries, they found that non-invasive pairing produced a smaller effect. However, both approaches depend on precisely timed interactions in the spinal cord, showing that integration of motor and sensory connections is key.

The authors note that the strength of the effect increased with higher spinal stimulation levels and was seen in participants with different injury levels and severity. Importantly, the study focused on immediate physiological effects, providing guidance for future rehabilitation approaches that could support longer-term recovery.