Restoring Movement to Paralyzed Limbs

Here's a thought-proking article about new developments in medical technology that can make a big impact on people with spinal cord injury or other types of paralysis; this from io9 in regard to a recent report by Nature:

Using a computerized connector between the brain and muscles in the body, scientists have been able to restore movement to paralyzed limbs. A group of neuroscientists report in Nature today that they used a brain-computer interface to join the motor cortex of an ape to the muscles in its wrist. After scientists paralyzed the ape's arm temporarily, it was still able to make its wrist move my sending electrical impulses directly from its brain to the muscles, bypassing the damaged nerves in between. The study has profound implications for people whose nerves have been severed or damaged, leaving them paralyzed.

Human implementations for the technology are at least a decade away, but this discovery could be a game-changer for dealing with paralysis. One possibility would be to connect the motor cortex with an area of the spine below an injury. Signals would be re-routed around the damaged spinal cord, and could allow the brain to regain control of the paralyzed body parts affected by the injury.

Your thoughts??

Image via Cortech Solutions.

Direct Control of Paralyzed Muscles by Cortical Neurons via Nature