A two-faceted approach to reverse the damage of spinal cord injury (SCI) can restore respiratory function in an animal model, according to a recent Nature paper by Jerry Silver and colleagues at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA. Breathing is controlled by specialized neurons in the brainstem, which send projections to the phrenic motor nuclei in the cervical spinal cord (C3-C6). These neurons in turn innervate the diaphragm. SCI in the neck interrupts this pathway, necessitating ventilator support.
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