Spinal cord regeneration might actually be helped by glial scar tissue

Neuroscientists have long believed that scar tissue formed by glial cells -- the cells that surround neurons in the central nervous system -- impedes damaged nerve cells from regrowing after a brain or spinal cord injury. So it's no wonder that researchers have assumed that if they could find a way to remove or counteract that scar tissue, injured neurons might spontaneously repair themselves.