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Article: Teaching the brain to rewire itself; Researchers at a Minneapolis rehabilitation center are using computer games and biofeedback to test their theory that the brain is more resilient than most believe.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- December 29, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Twice a week, Scott Danielson plays computer solitaire with the aid of his left foot. Flex the shin muscles that lift the foot, and the computer cursor takes the six of hearts off the stack and carries it across the screen. Relax the muscles, and the cursor drops it over the five of spades. Flex, and it travels back across the screen to fetch another card.
The goal is not to win the game. It's to re-map his brain by re-routing the neurons and chemical messengers that control his muscles, in the hope that he will be able to walk normally again. Physiologically, he is working to bypass the area destroyed 2 1/2 years ago when a cluster of malformed blood vessels ...