Regrowing Brains? Axolotl Research Could Advance Medicine

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Brain Builder

Axolotls are so smart, they can regrow their brains. Researchers mapped the telencephalon region, then removed a section to learn exactly how these dragon-like salamanders regenerate brain tissue.

• Telencephalon has a large impact on animal behavior/cognition

• Phase 1: Specialized progenitor cells begin healing

• Phase 2: Those cells turn into neuroblasts (newly discovered in axolotl)

Regeneration is completed in phase 3, when neuroblasts become the exact neurons that were removed. Learning how these slippery salamanders build their brains back could lead to advances in regenerative medicine research.

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