Paralysis

Aided by external wires that rerouted signals from their brains, two monkeys regained control of their paralyzed wrists and played a simple video game, scientists said Wednesday. The study, published in the journal Nature, could one day lead to devices that allow people to regain some control of their limbs after suffering spinal cord injuries and other forms of paralysis, scientists said.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Kevin Everett voluntarily moved his arms and legs Tuesday when partially awakened, prompting a neurosurgeon to say the Buffalo Bills tight end would walk again -- contrary to the grim prognosis given a day before. "Based on our experience, the fact that he's moving so well, so early after such a catastrophic injury means he will walk again," said Dr. Barth Green, chairman of the department of neurological surgery at the University of Miami school of medicine.

Scientists eased the paralysis of rats with spinal cord injuries by transplanting cells from adult mouse brains, an encouraging sign for developing human treatments, researchers reported. The paralyzed rats were given the mouse cells, called neural precursor cells, two or eight weeks after their injuries, according to the study in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Los Angeles Police Officer Kristina Ripatti is paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by a robbery suspect Saturday night in South Los Angeles. Ripatti remains hospitalized after surgery at California Hospital Medical Center, and although doctors have said she could recover some movement, she is unlikely to walk again, LAPD officials said Friday. "We are holding out hope. But there are permanent effects," said Lt. Paul Vernon, LAPD spokesman.

Los Angeles Police Officer Kristina Ripatti didn't hear the gunfire that changed her life. She didn't feel the bullet that plunged through her chest, nicked a rib, tore through a lung and severed her spine. And she never saw the gun in the suspect's hand -- the part that bothers her most, she said. Ten years of reflexively watching people's hands for weapons, and she didn't see it. There was only an odor -- a sudden, overpowering gunpowder smell bursting into her nostrils.

Stem cells taken from mouse embryos have helped paralyzed rats move again, researchers have reported. Dr. Douglas Kerr of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and colleagues used a soup of compounds called growth factors to cause stem cells from the mouse embryos to develop into a type of nerve cell called a motor neuron.

The temperature seemed to rise by the minute at the dusty Lake Elsinore motocross park. Ricky James launched his motorcycle, looked toward a group of spectators while in mid-flight, and motioned with his left thumb and pinky finger. He veered off the dirt track, rolling past his mother, Tina, who watched nervously. "Did you see that, Mom?" he shouted. James, who turned 18 on Aug.

County supervisors approved a $1.5-million settlement Tuesday for a woman who was paralyzed during back surgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance. Shanay Bridges, 25, of Los Angeles, underwent surgery three weeks after a 2005 car accident and was not sufficiently advised of the paralysis risk, according to one of her attorneys, Richard Wood. Bridges, a mother of three, was studying to be a nurse but, since becoming a paraplegic, has abandoned her studies. She now requires the help of an aide to accomplish some everyday tasks, Wood said.

A paraplegic scheduled to appear in court today faces charges that could send him to prison for life. Juan Romero Robles, also known as Miguel Angel Corlione, is accused of stealing a woman's driver's license, threatening to kill her if she went to the police, and trying to steal a man's watch and shoes -- all using a toy gun in a 10-minute spree at a bus stop in La Puente in December. The case has attracted attention because a paraplegic is accused of committing a violent crime.

Scientists who trained a monkey to move a mechanical arm using thought alone said Tuesday that experiments in Parkinson's disease patients showed the technique might work in humans too. Electrodes implanted in the brains of Parkinson's disease patients transmitted signals that might someday be used to operate remote devices, the team at Duke University Medical Center reported. The team gave patients a videogame to play while the electrodes sent their signals from within the brain.