When the spinal cord is damaged, the connection between the brain and some part

Question

When the spinal cord is damaged, the connection between the brain and some part of the body may be lost.

To restore this connection, researches are considering either:

Repairing the damaged area so that the spinal cord works again.

Bypassing the spinal cord by connecting the brain directly to the affected part of the body. This is done by implants in the brain connected directly to electrodes in the muscles creating a new circuit in parallel.

My question is has there been any attempt to bypass only the damaged part of the spinal cord? To create a bridge over the damaged tissue?

Explanation / Answer

Interesting question!

There has been at least one study that bypassed a spinal lesion site with autografted neuronal tissue (Tadie et al., 2004 - doi:10.1089/089771502320317069). The study participant regained voluntary motor skills 8 months after bypass surgery. The surgery involved the implantation of nerve autografts between the rostral spinal ventral horn and the caudal ventral roots. Regain of motor function was observed after the patient had been paralyzed for 3 years.

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