Brain, heal thyself

Can scientists prompt the brain to grow new nerve cells to replace ones felled by strokes or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s? That’s a recurring dream, reinvigorated by data published in the June 22 Nature.

In 1998, countering decades of dogma, scientists obtained convincing evidence that an adult’s brain can grow new nerve cells. These newborn cells derive from neural stem cells, rare precursor cells within the human brain.