Azerbaijan National Academy of Science

Biologists from the United States discovered a set of three hormones that make neural endings coalesce. During experiments, they used the hormones to relieve mice from partial paralysis caused either by stroke or spine fracture, an article published in Neuron magazine said.

The scientists injected the complex of hormones into the brain of the lab mice. The reaction was not exactly what the scientists expected. Axons - a crucial part of a neuron also known as a nerve fiber - started growing in the spinal cord of the rodents, but something similar started happening in subcortical space of the brain of the mice.

Zhigang He of Harvard University (USA) said that the scientists would have to further study how the process may help a living being recover from paralysis.

Electrostimulation of the damaged part of the spinal cord and injections of stem cells have made it possible to achieve partial restoration of the mobility of limbs after a spinal injury in experiments on rats and mice. However, the rodents have not been able to retain total control of their affected limbs as a result of the treatment: they could perform reflexive movements, but could not consciously control the movements because the used technology did not lead to the restoration of so-called cortical axons - nerve endings that connect centers of movement in the brain with the spinal cord.