A combination of drugs, electrical stimulation and regular exercise can enable paralyzed rats to walk and even run again, UCLA researchers have discovered — regeneration of severed nerve fibers is not required/

The finding may have implications for human rehabilitation after spinal cord injuries.

The scientists administered drugs that act on the neurotransmitter serotonin and applied low levels of electrical currents to the spinal cord below the point of injury. The combination of stimulation and sensation derived from the rats’ limbs moving on a treadmill belt triggered the spinal rhythm-generating circuitry and prompted walking motion in the rats’ paralyzed hind legs.