When I was 13 I underwent six brain surgeries to ameliorate a rare, crippling disorder. Those decades ago I was sent home and exercised my hands and arms back to near normality. At age 18 I went through my seventh and last brain operation; it destroyed most of my right side. Again, the neurosurgeons sent me home and told me to retrain my brain. Today we know that during the early teens, the second explosion of neuroblasts to neurons happens, but by one’s late teens virtually no new neurons are generated. There post-surgical brain trauma was probably too great for any amount of therapy to rewire my motor cortex.
Some years ago I read that laboratory animals who were given severe cortical lesions and then injected with their own neuro stem cells were able to recover most or all functionality. Animals whose neuro stem cells were delayed recovered did less well, but showed some recovery nevertheless.
My question involves the amount of current research being conducted in helping those who suffer brain trauma many months after it occurred. The damage could be stroke victims, our solderers and others who have suffered traumatic brain damage months of years ago. It has been years since I’ve seen anything regarding this. Is there any serious research going on in this field now?