By stimulating the optic nerves in blind mice, researchers were able to re-establish links between the eye and the brain to return partial sight, according to a new study. Researchers at Stanford University coaxed optic nerve cables stretching from a blind eye to the brain to regrow, allowing the mice to regain sight for the first time. Photoreceptor cells in the back of the retina react to light, sending information through ganglion cells that reach from the optic nerve through electric-wire-like axons to regions of the brain, connecting to nerve cells that are translated into sight. When axons in the brain or spinal cord are damaged, they do not regenerate, unlike axons in the other parts of the body. Anything from an injury to a progressive condition like glaucoma can damage the retina, causing vision to be damaged without hope of being restored -- or so the researchers thought. Read more http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2016...ration-of-vision-in-blind-mice/2501468258787/
