Traumatic injuries and diseases of the motor system affect millions of people worldwide. In Europe alone, approximately 3 million people are affected by the consequences of spinal cord injury, stroke and multiple sclerosis, for a total estimated healthcare cost of 45 billion euros per year. Treatments for these conditions are needed to ease both their growing economic and societal impact. Recent advances in neurotechnologies and brain machine interfaces have prompted promising results in laboratory settings. However, none of these approaches translated into actual clinical solutions to motor paralysis. Specifically, the scarce knowledge on the mechanisms of neural control of movement hinder the design of effective neurotechnologies thus limiting their usability for people with severe disabilities. Here I show how I developed a computational and technological framework to understand how damaged neural circuits can adapt to use electrical stimulation inputs for correcting aberrant motor behaviors I then show how I used this knowledge to design and test novel neurotechnologies enhancing motor recovery after paralysis.

Marco Capogrosso, Ph.D., is from the Department of Neurosciences and Movement Sciences at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.