People who experience a spinal cord injury have an increased risk of developing a mental health disorder, a new study reports. Those with SCI had higher instances of anxiety, depression, and psychological multimorbidity than those who had not experienced a debilitating injury.
Administering nimodipine to mouse models of spinal cord injury reduced spasticity in the animals.
Mouse models of corticospinal injuries reveal adult neurons begin a natural regeneration process by reverting back to an embryonic state. The regeneration is sustained with the help of a gene more commonly associated with Huntington's disease.
Damaged axons in mice lacking syntaphilin were able to regrow past the injury site and form functional connections with other neurons.
Enhancing mitochondrial transportation and cellular energetics could help promote regeneration and function following spinal cord injury.
Microglia can interfere with macrophages, preventing the movement of these blood immune cells to injury sites. The findings could help in the development of new treatments for multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and spinal cord injury.
Researchers have developed a new method for delivering neural precursor cells into rat models of spinal cord injury. The method is safe, effective, and reduces the likelihood of further spinal trauma while delivering larger doses of reparative stem cells. The new approach could also be used for the treatment of ALS and multiple sclerosis.
A bilateral implant and brain-machine interface technology allowed a patient with a high spinal cord injury to control prosthetic arms with the power of thought.
A new study challenges existing theories about spinal cord neurons. New findings suggest neurological signals originate from a major, scattered network of cells that send signals to only a few other neurons.
Severed axonal segments signal to Schwann cells to begin actin sphere formation and axon disintegration. If the process is disrupted, axon disintegration is slowed and axon fragments impair nerve regeneration.
A novel surgical technique that connects functioning nerves with injured nerves helps restore function to paralyzed muscles. Following surgery, 13 young adults with tetraplegia now have restored hand and elbow function, allowing them to feed themselves, hold a drink and write.
Axolotl salamander genes that allow the neural tube and nerve fibers to regenerate after spinal cord damage have been identified. These genes are also found in humans, but are activated differently.