With support from the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, Dr. Karen Echeverri of the Marine Biological Laboratory led a study published in npj Regenerative Medicine that uncovers a critical role for brain neurons in spinal cord regeneration in axolotls. The team’s findings reveal that neuron activation in brain regions distant from the injury site—not just in local tissue—plays a crucial, long-distance role in orchestrating regenerative repair through specific neuropeptides. This breakthrough challenges traditional assumptions that regeneration is driven only by cells near the wound and opens new avenues for exploring how the brain might influence healing processes throughout the body. The work holds potential implications for regenerative medicine, including the possibility of stimulating similar pathways in humans. The full study is available in npj Regenerative Medicine here.