Spinal Cord Injury

Single neurons found to control whisker movement in rats

Published in Health and Medicine Week, March 8th, 2004

Single brain cells can control whisker movement in rats, research suggests. The discovery may help researchers to understand how nerve cell activity controls physical movement - a goal long sought by those who wish to restore movement to paraplegics.

Michael Brecht and colleagues writing in Nature managed to stimulate single neurons in the rat cortex. This is a technical achievement, because previous attempts have stimulated groups of neurons, rather than single cells. The team found that small electrical currents delivered inside single cells produced precise whisker movements.

The discovery sheds light on the code linking brain activity to...

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Source: Health and Medicine Week (2004-03-08)

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