Spinal cord injuries can result in paralysis, loss of sensation, disruption of body functions and permanent disability. There are 350-400 new cases of spinal cord injury in Australia every year.

These are often a result of trauma such as experienced in motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries and falls, and are seen most frequently in young men aged between 15-24 years. Spinal cord injuries can also have non-traumatic causes, such as arthritis, disc degeneration or other diseases such as cancer.

NeuRA’s research ranges from development of preventative strategies to studies of treatments that improve the health and capacity of spinal patients.

Our research approaches

Spinal cord injury research at NeuRA covers a large area and several of those areas are set out below.

NeuRA is studying how mechanical forces affect the tissues of the human nervous system, including the spinal cord and peripheral nerves. Recent work has shown that the differences in spinal cord injury incidence and severity between adults and children are influenced by differences in spinal column flexibility and in how spinal cord tissues respond to mechanical loading.

Respiratory complications, such as control of couching, are the major cause of death for people with spinal cord injuries. Due to paralysis of the abdominal muscles, people with high level spinal cord injury have a reduced ability to cough and to clear secretions from the lungs, which can lead to infection. NeuRA is looking at ways to improve coughing in people with spinal cord injury using electrical stimulation of the abdominal muscles. 

Additionally, NeuRA is currently completing atlases of the rat and mouse spinal cord. We are using the distribution of chemicals to find those neurons in the spinal cord that animate muscles or control the autonomic nervous system, which controls unconscious bodily functions. We have also commenced our work on the human spinal cord, establishing the areas that correspond with the cord of experimental animals.

Our research discoveries

NeuRA has shown that electrical stimulation of abdominal muscles can improve coughing in people with spinal injuries significantly. We are now looking to improve coughing through muscle training as well as ways to develop a portable stimulator that would allow independent activation of a cough.

Further recent work has shown that the differences in spinal cord injury incidence and severity between adults and children are influenced by differences in spinal column flexibility and the way spinal cord tissues respond to mechanical loading.