Within 7 months, all the rats recovered partial movement in their hind legs, the researchers report in the February Neuron . They theorize that the glial cells provided growth-promoting chemicals to the severed cells. At the same time, this field is historically filled with amazing reports that turn out to be difficult to replicate. We have to be cautious. Severing the spinal cord cuts the axons, the long tendrils of neurons that extend up and down the spinal cord.
Axons carry messages to and from the brain.
In the recent test, the ends of the spinal cord retracted immediately after the injury to leave a gap of up to 3 centimeters. The rats were unable to support their weight on their back legs or use them to climb. Three to 7 months later, severed axonal ends gradually reconnected in the spines of the rats treated with the glial cells. The animals regained some ability to use their back legs and climb a mesh grid pitched at a 45 angle. Almudena Ram n-Cueto, a neuroscientist at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research in Valencia.