There's new hope for Australians with major spinal cord injuries, with a new study finding half are still able to register the sensation of touch in their brains even though they can't feel it.
Australian researchers have detected brain activity in response to touch in half of the 23 people they studied, proving their sensory pathways are intact.
"Despite previously believing the communication to the brain had been severed in the injury, messages are still being received by the brain," Dr Sylvia Gustin said on Wednesday.
"This opens up new opportunities to identify those people living with a spinal cord injury that are more likely to benefit from treatments aimed at improving sensation and movement."
The study, involving people with complete thoracic spinal cord injuries, also involved the University of Sydney and HammondCare, with the results published in the journal Human Brain Mapping.
