Towards neural repair: turning scar forming glia into neurons

I will therefore start to present recent unpublished work on the mechanisms of neurogenesis and then move towards direct neuronal reprogramming. I will present recent and unpublished data reprogramming scar-forming glia in the injured cerebral cortex in vivo demonstrating an amazing efficiency and quality of the reprogrammed neurons. I will close by discussing the mechanisms of integration of new neurons into adult mammalian brain regions that normally never integrate new neurons. I will present data about how transplanted young cortical neurons connect and integrate into the adult murine cerebral cortex comparing different injury conditions and transplantation into the intact cerebral cortex. These data raise intriguing new concepts about mechanisms mediating neuronal integration for repair.