CNS Injury, Repair and Inhibition, Excitation

Stroke, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord damage are all examples of acute central nervous system (CNS) injuries. For stroke or traumatic brain injury patients, early brain injury is a leading cause of disability and mortality. Early brain injury after stroke and trauma has complicated pathways that are still poorly understood. In the acute phase of CNS traumas, neuronal cell death is a critical pathogenic process that affects long-term neurological impairments and prognosis.

Despite breakthroughs in our understanding of the inflammatory response to lesions and the discovery of adult neurogenesis, repairing the human brain remains a problem. The hostile milieu and lack of structural support for neural cell repopulation, anchoring, and synapse formation after a brain injury diminish the chances of effective healing.