“It’s exciting because it suggests that by just manipulating one gene in adult brains, we can boost brain plasticity,” says lead investigator Jason Shepherd, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at University of Utah Health.
“This has implications for potentially reducing normal cognitive decline with aging, or boosting recovery from brain injury after stroke or traumatic brain injury,” he says. Additional research will need to be done to determine whether plasticity in humans and mice is regulated in the same way.