New Research at Tufts U. Sheds Light on Neuroscience, Possibilities for Spinal Cord Injury Treatments

Unlike tissues such as skin and bone, the cells of the central nervous system in an adult are notoriously resistant to healing. (Photo Credit: www.Now.Tufts.Edu)Spinal cord injury has always been a complicated area in neuroscience. However, recent research by Professor Eric Frank’s molecular physiology lab at Tufts University has made a breakthrough in understanding the central nervous system. Since 2005, the lab has been exploring the growth of nerve cells and its effects.  Researchers Pamela Harvey and Laura Wong have found that artemin protein can stimulate the growth of sensory nerve fibers to regenerate. Based on this finding, Wong has done further experiments to show that the new neurons can make organized connections with their counterparts inside the spinal cord and the brain stem under the stimulus of artemin. Wong remarks, “All the regeneration in the world isn’t going to make any difference if they don’t reconnect. You are still not going to get any function.” Although it seems that artemin can improve the situation after nerve cells are damaged, further evidence is needed to prove it can work on humans.

More information is available at: http://now.tufts.edu/articles/hope-spinal-cord-injuries

Eye-Tracking Software to Help People with Disabilities Use Smartphones

An Israeli start-up company, uMoove, has spent the last three years developing a smartphone/tablet technology that allows users to control the device through eye and head movements. Moti Krispil, the founder and CEO of uMoove, sought to create this program to help people with disabilities use their devices “to do things like browse the Web, play games, and read books.”* The creators of uMoove were inspired by one of the founders’ relatives who’s living with ALS and is unable to use a smartphone or tablet.

While other companies, Samsung in particular, are trying to develop this same eye-tracking software, Moti and his team are determined to make this technology compatible on any device to make it available to all users and maximize it’s potential.

To learn more about uMoove…. 

Check out their website here http://umoove.me

*Or click this link to read Brian Chen’s NY Times article, “Eye-Tracking Tech Will Be Open to iPhones and Other Devices.”

"One small nibble for a woman, one giant bite for BCI"

In our second ever post on “What’s Making Headlines?” we featured an incredible story about Cathy Hutchinson and a team of MGH and Brown University researchers that was helping her overcome her quadriplegia and move a robotic arm with her thoughts. For the first time in 15 years, Cathy took a sip of her morning coffee all on her own.

In the below video, meet Jan Scheuermann. Just like Cathy, an unexpected medical condition interrupted Jan’s life and took away her independence. When Jan was introduced to the brain-computer interface (BCI) studies being done at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, she set a goal of once again feeding herself a piece of chocolate. Watch as this amazing technology and the dedicated researchers involved help Jan accomplish her goal and regain a sense of independence she hasn’t felt in 10 years. As Jan describes, “This is the ride of my life. This is the rollercoaster. This is skydiving. It’s just fabulous, and I’m enjoying every second of it.”

For more, click here for the UPMC’s BCI website or click here to watch a segment featured on 60 Minutes...