Regeneration of the auditory pathway in adult rats by transplants of fetal brain tissue

The ventral cochlear tract in the brain stem to pons was transected on one side in two groups of adult rats. In one group simple transection was performed, while in the other group tissue from embryos (E14-E16) was used to cover the lesion site. While rats receiving simple transection without transplantation showed no evidence of regeneration, in 30% of the rats receiving transplants of embryonic tissue the axons regrew beyond the transected site and regenerated into the denervated side and terminated at the normal targets. The present findings contradict the widely held view that the adult mammalian central auditory system cannot be restored following damage.