Paraplegics may regain mobility and feeling

Patients long paralyzed from spinal cord injuries showed unprecedented gains in mobility and feeling - and in some cases a renewed sex life - through virtual-reality training and the use of brain-controlled robotics, scientists said on Thursday.

Six men and two women who had completely lost the use of their lower limbs all made significant progress, the researchers reported in the journal Scientific Reports.

In four cases, doctors were able to upgrade their status to "partial paralysis", an unheard-of level of improvement using noninvasive techniques.