Brain injury in adults can cause irreparable, long-term physical and cognitive damage. However, motor and spatial functions can be recovered if undamaged neurons are stimulated to create new innervation. This type of innervation develops spontaneously after a brain injury in very young children.
Researchers had previously shown – based on injury to the neuronal pathway linking the stem to the cerebellum – it was possible to induce reinnervation in young adults similar to that observed in newborn infants. This repair was rendered possible by treating the damaged cerebellum with a peptide chain Derived Neurotrophic Factor which plays a role in the development and satisfactory functioning of this neuronal pathway.
In the present case, the researchers have extended the use of this model and showed that the terminals of new axons interact with the network of undamaged neuronal cells to restore their associated functions, such as synchronized movement and spatial orientation. These results demonstrate a correlation between an improvement in behavior and the degree of reinnervation in the cerebellum. Thus a small amount of correctly-targeted reinnervation makes it possible to recover fine functions such as motor and cognitive skills.
These results open promising new perspectives and make it possible to envisage using BDNF – already employed during clinical trials on the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease – to repair the human brain after a cerebral lesion.
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