Neuroscience

Spinal stimulation gives some people with paralysis more freedom

Electrodes help reroute nerve signals around trouble spots

photo of Michel Roccati standing and using a walker as a researcher monitors his progress on an tablet

As part of a small clinical trial, Michel Roccati uses an implanted electrical stimulator to activate his spine, allowing him to move around without a wheelchair after his spinal cord injury.

Jimmy Ravier/EPFL

By Laura Sanders

By his count, Michel Roccati is on his third life, at least. In the first, he was a fit young man riding his motorcycle around Italy.