Helo! Today I'm going to talk about regeneration and functional restoration in the nervous system, remembering that this process is only evidenced under natural conditions in the peripheral nervous system. Are we going to understand this process better?
The regeneration of damaged axons in the peripheral nervous system has already been proven, for example, when a part of the body is amputated and reimplanted, the person only recovers sensitivity and motricity when the surgeon manages to reconnect vessels and nerves, but, What happens? From the site of injury to the target organ, degeneration of the nerve fiber and its sheaths is observed , but the proximal part of the axon that maintains contact with the cell body of the injured neuron survives and it forms a growth cone. With elongation of the fiber, from this cone, it will be able to reconnect with the target, then it will be remyelination by new Schwann cells, thus allowing the functional restoration that can be full or partial.
In the central nervous system, there is no action to restore communication, so the glial cells provide an opposite support, releasing growth inhibitors that prevent axon elongation and, thus, completely derail any attempt to regenerate the pathway. But why? It is believed to be a strategy to protect the system against errors in the growth trajectory, after all, there could be wrong connections and changes in the functioning of brain areas.
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A big hug and see you soon!