"I Feel Like I Can Walk a Mile"

George Mentis, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology (in Neurology), focused his research at Columbia’s Motor Neuron Center on studying neurons that communicate with motor neurons in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) patients to understand what leads to muscle atrophy in the disease. His laboratory studies of mice with SMA showed that it is possible to gain muscle function through stimulation. In 2023, Dr. Mentis and Dr. Marco Capogrosso, a neuroscientist from the University of Pittsburgh, conducted the first-ever neurostimulation trial with SMA patients. “It worked so well, above and beyond all our expectations,” says Dr. Mentis. “And the improvements kept coming during the four weeks, suggesting that further gains are possible.” [read more]

Source: CUIMC Newsroom