That much we know. But scientists haven't
"Getting at the precise mechanisms of what happens after axon damage has been really challenging," says Anne Marion Taylor, PhD, an assistant professor in the UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. "But we think we've finally figured out a key part of what happens and why."
In a Nature Communications paper, Taylor and colleagues have revealed new molecular details of axotomy – when neurons are damaged or completely severed.
Shrinking dendritic spines, rising excitability
Scientists do know that a severed axon will cause a neuron to quickly lose some of its incoming connections from other neurons. These connections occur at short, root-like tendrils called dendrites, which sprout from the neuron's cell body, or soma.
Dendrites themselves grow tiny protrusions called spines to create actual connections, or synapses, with incoming axons. It's these dendritic spines that shrink in number following axotomy.
