Aweekly drug treatment strengthens neural connections and enhances neuron regeneration in mice with chronic spinal cord injuries, according to a study published in PLOS Biology last week (September 20).
The spinal cord is made up of bundles of lengthy axons that carry either movement information from the brain to muscles via descending axons, or sensory information from the body to the brain. In both mice and humans, spinal cord injury causes spasticity, pain, and loss of voluntary movement below the injury site. For years, researchers have sought a way to reconnect the severed neural connections above and below the lesion, both immediately and long after the damage has set in. “What is really important is to provide a tissue bridge that can provide traffic and structural support across the cavity that’s formed after spinal cord injury,” explains study coauthor Simone Di Giovanni, a neuroscientist at the Imperial College London. “And ...
