Guiding Neural Growth and Plasticity After Injury
At the Metcalfe Lab, we study how growth and plasticity can be re-engaged in the adult nervous system and how those processes must be carefully guided to support recovery after injury.
Rather than assuming that more growth is always better, we ask when, where, and for how long growth-promoting signals should be activated to restore function while preserving circuit stability.
Why this problem exits?
Why don’t adult neurons readily grow after injury?
Adult neurons in the central nervous system face multiple barriers to growth after injury, arising from both intrinsic and extrinsic constraints. As neurons mature, they lose much of their developmental growth capacity, while the environment surrounding an injury site contains molecules that actively suppress structural remodeling. Together, these factors create a setting that strongly resists repair.
A major open question, however, is whether simply overcoming these barriers is sufficient for recovery, or whether placing adult neurons into a growth-permissive state introduces new challenges for circuit organization, stability, and long-term function.
How We Study Neural Recovery
In our lab, we study how growth and plasticity can be re-engaged in the adult nervous system and how those processes must be carefully guided to support meaningful recovery. Using precision gene-delivery approaches, we place neurons into a growth-permissive state after injury, then deliberately dial those signals up or down over time to balance repair with circuit stability.
To guide this process, we use a bioluminescent “glowing” system, similar to a firefly’s light, that allows us to track gene activity in living animals in real time. By combining targeted gene modulation with live monitoring, we build experimental platforms that reveal when, where, and for how long growth should occur, with the goal of informing safer and more effective regenerative strategies after neurotrauma.
Where to find us
Our lab is part of the thriving neuroscience community at Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (KSCIRC) at the University of Louisville, located on the Health Sciences Campus. We are affiliated with the Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology in the School of Medicine.