The spinal cord of rats was cut in two places. Meant messages could travel from the brain to the legs, but the spinal cord was still in one piece.
The researchers then tried to repair the damage. In a breakthrough study of Rob Summers, spinal cord was injected first with chemicals to stimulate the nerves of the spine. The base of the spinal cord was then electrically stimulated as well. Scientists say they were reawakening the "spinal brain".
However, this was not enough to restore circulation. The rats were supported in a harness of robotics and showed them a treatment that is needed to "learn" to walk into.
Lead researcher Professor Gregoire Courtine, said: "Over time the animal regains the capacity to perform one, two steps, then a long run and eventually we gain the capacity to sprint over ground, climb stairs and even pass obstacles."
He told the BBC: "It is completely unexpected to see this recovery, they walk and climb stairs voluntarily.
The scientists showed that the nerves were forming new ones through the injury and there were also changes in the brain.
This is not, however, a cure for spinal cord injury in humans.
Professor Reggie Edgerton of the University of California, Los Angeles, was part of the team that helped Rob Summers resubmitted.
He told the BBC that the study was "important" and it was clear that the involvement of the brain is the key. "You've got to make the rat want to step, it demonstrates the importance of training and rehabilitation," he said.
Both processes operate only when the spinal cord is being stimulated, despite the new nerves have a bridge of the lesion.
Why this is the case is still unknown. Professor Edgerton speculated thatwe are activating the spinal cord to a critical level", near the level that would result in movements, and a small signal "pushes the brain" that leads the movement.
Dr. Bryce Vissel, Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, said he was "excited" by the investigation.
He said: "The major advance of this new study is to show that it is possible to stimulate almost complete functional recovery in rats with profound injury, using a combination of therapeutic drugs injected into the spinal cord, electrical stimulation of the spinal cord and initial assistance to walk.
"We are on the edge of a truly profound advance in modern medicine: the prospect of repairing the spinal cord after injury."
Dr Mark Bacon, research director of the Institute for Spinal Research charity, said: "This is a robust demonstration that medical research is moving in the right direction and restoring function after paralysis can no longer be dismissed as a pipedream.
"For all its complexity, the important message here may be that our standard approach to rehab may not be making the most of the potential to restore function if we don't provide appropriate 'rewarding' feedback to every part of the nervous system, including the brain."
But he warned that "real world" Injuries may be more complicated, with fewer new nerve tissue to grow through.
BBC
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