Hi X world! This might sound crazy but today we publish in @NatureMedicine a paper showing that neurostimulation can revert motoneuron dysfunction produced by a neurodegenerative disease! @scottensel@dona_sere @DrRFriedlander@ElviraPirondini @MCapogrosso.

RT @neuro_nico: Sometimes we forget science is also the people we meet and work with. This paper will forever remember me the amazing group….

RT @Nature: Nature research paper: An instantaneous voice-synthesis neuroprosthesis.

RT @Maitreyee_W: Our brain-to-voice synthesis brain-computer interface paper was published in @Nature today! This neuroprosthesis synthesiz….

RT @SergeyStavisky: It is hard to convey just how hard Maitreyee has worked leading this project. Fantastic job and results! 👏👏👏.

I will be hiring soon so contact me if you are interested in neurostimulation/comp neuro! Also I'm at neural interfaces conference in Arlington come say hi! 🥳.

I have a very cool life update: This fall, I will be starting a position as Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh! @RNELabs @ChildrensPgh @PittNeurosurg.

RT @DrDavidBrandman: Brain computer interfaces hold the potential to restore communication to people living with paralysis. The UC Davis Ne….

RT @MCapogrosso: With this work we demonstrate that neurotechnology can be tailored to change single neuron properties thereby improving mo….

RT @MEliasson42: Years ago, I brought the idea to ⁦@MCapogrosso⁩ and ⁦@DrRFriedlander⁩ that SCS could restore function in neurodegen. disea….

This has been a real team effort with all the coauthors! Special thanks to @smafoundation and @SMAEurope for their advice and encouragement and F. Hoffmann–La Roche for supporting this study with an exploratory research grant @Roche @genentech.

The real heroes of this study are our participants. Even though they knew this was only a temporary implant, they stopped their lives, moved to Pittsburgh and worked with us for a couple of months! I am so glad that I had the chance to meet them. Thank you so much!.

This is the first step to develop a SCS therapy for SMA that could work synergistically with the existing SMN inducing therapies to improve the quality of life of people living with SMA. Let’s make this happen! @Roche @genentech.

A follow-up controlled clinical trial is necessary to assess if the size and consistency of these beneficial effects will be sustained over long-term use of SCS.

Together these results show that SCS can reverse motoneuron dysfunction (i.e hyperexcitability and low firing rates) in a neurodegenerative disease and improve motor function.

Finally, using TMS, we found a large decrease in motoneuron hyperexcitability for all participants!

Moreover, consistent with an increase in motoneurons firing rate, we found, using spinal cord fMRI, that spinal circuits were more active during a knee extension task post than pre-study.

But how are these large improvements possible in only 4 weeks of SCS? With @Lu_borda5, we detected post-study motoneurons with much higher peak firing rate than all pre-study motoneurons. We named them rescued motoneurons.

But not only this, SCS also improved fatigue in all participants! In a clinical test of fatigue where participants have to walk as far as they can for 6 minutes, we found improvements that were completely different from the results obtained with only exercise!

Then we tested whether these improvements in strength could have any translation in daily life activities like walking. Again, we found immediate and long-term improvements in gait quality variables such as stride length (SL), stride height (SH) and stride velocity (SV).

Our results are completely different to the results obtained in the only single-blind randomized clinical trial testing the effect of exercise in muscle strength in the same SMA population.