{"id":62805,"date":"2026-07-16T17:02:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T17:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2580028-auto-draft\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T17:02:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T17:02:29","slug":"neurostimulation-restores-feeling-in-paralysed-hand-for-months-after","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/07\/16\/neurostimulation-restores-feeling-in-paralysed-hand-for-months-after\/","title":{"rendered":"Neurostimulation restores feeling in paralysed hand for months after"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"Keith
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Keith Thomas has paralysis, but can now move and feel his hands again thanks to a brain implant<\/div>
MATTHEW LIBASSI\/Feinstein Institutes for Medical research<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A man who became paralysed after a diving accident six years ago regained the ability to move and feel pressure in his hands thanks to brain<\/a> stimulation. Now, researchers have revealed he maintained this ability for months after the stimulation was turned off. This suggests the intervention has caused a rerouting of his neuronal connections through neuroplasticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe turned everything off completely, for many months, and yet he\u2019s maintained these gains,\u201d says Chad Bouton<\/a> at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York. \u201cThat\u2019s unheard of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

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\u2018Fusogenic\u2019 neurosurgery let paralysed pigs walk again \u2013 are we next?<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Keith Thomas, 48, was paralysed from the chest down in July 2020. He had no sensation or control over his limbs and had significant muscle wasting, says Bouton.<\/p>\n

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