Ursula Hofstötter, head of the "Human Motor Control and Neuromodulation" research group, developed a procedure that can alleviate spasticity and improve mobility - without any drugs or surgery.
With colleague Karen Minassian, she developed a technique that involves placing adhesive electrodes on the surface of the body and stimulating nerve structures that have natural connections to important movement centers in the spinal cord. This can positively affect spasticity and mobility in paraplegia or multiple sclerosis.
In her current project, Hofstötter is using funding from the Austrian Science Fund FWF to focus for the first time on the influence of stimulation on specific neuronal mechanisms in the spinal cord, with the aim of later being able to achieve individually optimized treatment results.