the next revolution in brain therapy

for a long time, scientists thought that central nervous system cells could not regenerate as peripheral nervous system cells could. this theory was useful in explaining a great deal about brain damage’s effects. however, a short while ago scientists discovered chemicals the brain produced to actually inhibit the regeneration (repair) of neurons, and even before that they discovered that dying neurons released chemicals to kill the cells around them (sort of like shutting off one flooding cell of a ship). these discoveries gave great hope to researchers trying to create drugs to prevent brain damage due to stroke and injury. if scientists found a way to suppress these chemicals, what progress could be made for brain therapy!

scientists are still working hard on these issues (there've been some bumps in the road), but a big problem is that this is great for preventing damage, but just don’t do much for those who already have incurred severe brain damage in the distant past. it seems that now scientists have discovered a new phenomenon that could produce the same kind of shift in thinking about the brain as those studies. researchers have discovered how to create stem cells inside a rat’s brain. these multipotent cells could of course then develop into anything their neighboring cells told them to – e.g., neurons.

if only growing neurons were a better spectator sport, it’d make a great x-prize.

Labels: neuroscience