Researchers in Australia have discovered that half of all patients with major spinal cord injuries display surviving sensory nerve connections. Dr. Sylvia Gustin of Neuroscience Research Australia recorded how 23 people living with severe spinal cord injuries responded to touch detected by advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The finding, which astonished scientists, showed that many people, who completely lacked feeling in their extremities, were still registering the touch in their brains. “We found using functional MRI, activity in the brain was detected in 48 percent of patients with clinically complete spinal cord injury,” Dr. Gustin said. “This means despite previously believing the communication to the brain [...]

If you have not experienced a spinal cord injury (SCI) or worked closely with someone that has, chances are great that you are ignorant to some degree of what life with an SCI is really like. It is important that, through awareness education, families who are learning to cope with SCI do not use the wrong ideas. Some Myths and Misconceptions About Spinal Cord Injury Never moving again is always the prognosis Each persons injury and recovery results differ. There is always some loss of sensory and motor function, but at greatly varying levels. Even in a person classified as quadriplegic there may be limited use [...]