Gray Matters Brain Podcast

Seven years ago, when he was 19, Ian Burkhart was left paraplegic after a diving accident. For most patients, this would mean life without the possibility of ever again moving their legs, their arms, or their hands. But for Ian, his injury wasn't the end of the road, but the beginning, thanks to a lab at The Ohio State University. By outfitting him with a special electrical sleeve, researchers were able to bypass the damaged neural pathways and connect Ian's brain directly to his muscles. We speak to Ian and to his partner in research, Dr. Marcia Bockbrader, an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at The Ohio State University, about what their findings mean for Ian and for others like him.