Gregoire Courtine shares the story behind his work at TEDGlobal 2013. It begins with: an encouraging mentor. Photo: James Duncan DavidsonGrégoire Courtine and the scientists in his lab helped a paralyzed rat learn to walk again, voluntarily, through a treatment that combined drugs, electrical stimulation of the lower spinal cord, the support of a robotic arm and a little bit of chocolate. When their study appeared in the June 2012 issue of Science, it sparked a lot of excitement. Articles in Scientific American (“With Willpower, and a Jolt of Electricity, Paralyzed Rats Learn to Walk Again”) and The New York Times (“In Rat Experiment, New Hope for Spine Injuries”) followed, as did a segment on ABC News (“Paralysed rats on ‘incredible’ road to recovery”).
Grégoire Courtine: The paralyzed rat that walkedToday, Courtine shares the story behind this work. The keys to his breakthroughs: a riveting call to action from Christopher Reeve, and a mentor who encouraged wild experimentation.
“The spinal cord below most injuries contains all the necessary and sufficient neural network to coordinate locomotion. But because input from the brain is inhibited, they are in a non-functional state — kind of dormant. My idea: we awaken this network,” explains Courtine in today’s talk. “After completing my Ph.D in France, where independent thinking was not exactly encouraged, I was afraid to talk to my new boss … [But] he listened to me carefully and responded with, ‘Why don’t you try?’ This was such an important moment in my career, when I realized that great leaders believe in young people and new ideas.”
In this talk, Courtine shares why his lab’s method worked so well — because it encouraged the brain to make new connections to relay information from the brain to areas below the injury. This, of course, raises a big question — could this treatment work in humans? After all, 50,000 people around the world suffer from spinal cord injuries every year.
Naturally, Courtine hopes so. His team is working hard to develop interventions that could potentially be effective in humans. And a recent study suggests that this may, in fact, be possible.
At the University of Louisville, neuroscientist Susan Harkema — who also studied with Courtine’s mentor, V. Reggie Edgerton — used electrical stimulation to successfully “awaken” a 23-year-old man’s lower spinal cord. In a paper published in The Lancet in June 2011, Harkema shared the amazing results of a study on a patient named Rob Summers. On the very first day of his treatment, Summers was able to stand up on his own. Soon, he was able to move his legs. He later was able to control his bladder and bowel movements, and regained sexual function.
“Rob’s is a pioneer recovery,” Courtine said, in a powerful article in IEEE Spectrum last month about this experiment. “What was surprising to me was that his was better than what we’ve seen in rats. It was really exciting for me to see.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given Harkema the go-ahead to continue the study with four more patients, to begin determining if the first study was a fluke or if this treatment could work for others. In their article, IEEE Spectrum profiled one of the four patients who will participate — Dustin Shillcox, a 26-year-old from Wyoming who was paralyzed after a car accident.
“I don’t want to be too optimistic, and I’m trying to be prepared for no results at all,” he told the magazine. “I hope that whatever they find from this research will at least benefit other people.”
Both Courtine and Herkema’s work builds on that of Edgerton, who long ago demonstrated that directly stimulating the spinal cord could produce movement, even if communication with the brain wasn’t a possibility. “Everyone, including us, was hung up on the idea that you have to stimulate at this high level to induce the movement,” Edgerton told IEEE Spectrum. And yet, it turned out that low-level stimulation produced far better results, allowing the lower spinal cord to receive sensory feedback from the body.
This story beautifully illustrates how a scientist’s finding is a beginning rather than an ending. One insight can spark subtle variations and brand-new ideas as others pick up the torch and carry the research forward. And while the finish line of a well-tested intervention for spinal cord injuries might be a long way off, it’s a race we are eager to watch.
(Note: For the latest from Courtine’s lab, check out the literature review “Personalized Neuroprosthetics,” published today in Science Translational Medicine.)
Before starting on the work of the day, I create an action plan. I list everything that I need to accomplish and review the list along with scheduled meetings. By going over the plans for the day, I am prepared to complete all the tasks on my to-do list.
I read articles and blogs. I consider continual learning to be a top priority, so I always do it first. It fuels ideas and provides knowledge for the rest of my day.
As a work at home mama and business owner, my daily priorities are constantly changing. When my work day starts, I tackle the one thing on my list that contributes the most to the bottom line. Typically that means a call with a potential client or moving a new product forward gets crossed off my to-do list first.
First thing first — I write. I spend the first couple hours every morning writing, whether it’s a new ad campaign, email campaign, or a guest blog post. Writing is the most valuable activity I can do in my business, and that’s why I put it first on my list every morning. Identify the most valuable thing you can do for your business — and do it first, before you check your email. Email can wait.
“If you have to eat a live frog, it does not pay to sit and look at it for a very long time!” Do whatever it is that you don’t want to do, but need to do most first thing in the morning … and then the rest of the day is just peachy.
Our controller prepares our business “daily indicators” every morning. It’s an overall view of the health of our business. Evaluating the daily indicators each morning is a great way to get focused and keep day-to-day decisions in perspective as they relate to overall goals.
I use Twitter to catch up with the rest of the world and find out what I missed. It’s not a healthy addiction but it’s a great way to stay up to date.
As the steward of a social media startup, we’re all about community growth. So every morning I review our growth numbers from the day before — how many sign ups have our reps gotten and are we on track to meet our monthly goals. If growth is stagnating, addressing the “why” is job one for the day. If a community is not growing, it’s dying.
Contrary to a lot of “guru” advice, I check my email first thing in the morning. Once I know everything is in order and moving forward, I can focus on my day.
The first thing I do is look at my calendar to see how I’ve planned my day. Seeing what meetings are scheduled allows me to properly prepare myself and my team members for what we’ll be tackling that day.
I’m not really a fan of the whole “Eat That Frog” concept. I start my day with the three of the easiest tasks on my to-do list. This makes a little dent in my list right away, which makes me feel as though I’m on a roll. I always find that when this is the case, I burn through more tasks than I would when focusing on my biggest list items first.
We have a distributed team (Berkeley, Atlanta, South Korea, San Francisco). The most important thing I do each morning is talk to each teammate — I want to know how they are, what projects are on their plate, and what I can do to help them succeed each day. These calls create a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose, and provide a great opportunity to set team priorities.
20 Minute Yoga is the first thing I have scheduled into my day. Yoga and stretching has so many benefits like improved circulation, strength building, better posture, and many more. It helps me get focused and feel good for the day ahead. I recommend checking out Tara Stiles on YouTube at 
I start every workday by writing three thank you notes. It is extremely important to show appreciation to those who have contributed to your success in any way. Gratefulness sparks a cycle of positivity whereby which those who are appreciated are likely to provide further assistance in the future. In regards to its role in my daily routine, writing these cards puts me in a more positive mindset
These three things gets automatically added on my digital To Do list every day:
Each morning, I complete the same checklist: look at calendar, review projects list, answer e-mail, answer voicemails and texts, and clear daily paper file. This has three benefits: It helps me process everything effectively; it makes starting my day effortless; and it allows me to plan effectively based on the most recent information.
SaveUp is a new service that rewards you for saving money, paying down your debt, and learning about finances. By adding your bank accounts, loan providers, and credit card accounts to your profile, you collect “credits” that you can use to play against certain giveaways. These giveaways aren’t like little dinky $10 Amazon cards or anything; we’re talking Home Gaming Set Up’s worth $5,000, or Round-Trip Tickets worth $400. As of today there is even a SaveUp Super Jackpot worth $2 million.
Prizes at SaveUp are pretty crazy.
Watch videos about money to get credits.
Winning more credits.
The C&A MFL-05 microscope is an upgrade from our MFL-02. The same great optics are now even more versatile on a new base with a rechargeable battery light source. The detachable AC power cord can be used to power the light or recharge the battery for portable use for up to 15 hours. Comes with five prepared glass slides.
