Can Axolotls Really Regrow Their Brains?
Axolotls don't just regrow legs and tails — they can rebuild damaged sections of their own brain. Here's what scientists have found about how far that ability really goes.
The axolotl is already famous for regrowing lost legs and tails without scarring. What’s less well known is that this small Mexican salamander can also rebuild damaged parts of its own brain — and researchers have been trying to work out just how complete that recovery really is.
A Discovery That Goes Back Decades
Scientists first noticed this ability a long time ago. Researchers observed in 1964 that adult axolotls could regrow sections of their brains even after a large piece of tissue had been removed entirely, according to the World Economic Forum. That early finding didn’t get much attention outside specialist circles, but newer genetic tools have let scientists finally look closely at how the process actually plays out at the cellular level.
Axolotls can regenerate the front portion of their brain, known as the telencephalon, an ability that contrasts sharply with humans and other mammals, which have very limited capacity to grow new neurons in the brain after injury, according to a study covered by Lab Animal. That makes the axolotl one of the few animal models where researchers can watch brain regeneration happen from start to finish.
How the Regrowth Actually Happens
A team from BGI Genomics identified a previously unknown subtype of neural stem cell that appears central to how axolotls rebuild brain tissue after damage. According to that research, visible tissue regrowth begins within roughly 20 to 30 days of an injury, though the new neurons aren’t immediately functional — it can take another month or so before they mature enough for the animal to fully recover normal reflexes and movement.
Researchers studying the axolotl’s genome have also pointed out something surprising: despite being about ten times larger than the human genome, the axolotl’s coding genes are strikingly similar to our own. That overlap is part of why scientists think humans may still carry the biological toolkit for this kind of repair — it just isn’t switched on the same way after injury.
Is the Regrowth Perfect?
Not entirely. A study covered by The Conversation found that when researchers mapped the cell types making up the axolotl telencephalon, some of those cells showed strong similarities to the mammalian hippocampus, the brain region tied to memory, and to the olfactory cortex, which handles smell. A few even resembled cell types found in the human neocortex, the region responsible for higher-level thought and spatial reasoning.
But other work, including a study published in eLife, found that while the axolotl brain can selectively regrow the specific types of neurons that were lost — suggesting the tissue somehow senses what kind of damage occurred — those new neurons don’t always manage to reconnect to their original, distant targets. In other words, the axolotl can rebuild the right kinds of cells, but wiring them back into the exact same network is a harder problem, even for a creature this good at healing itself.
Why Scientists Care So Much
Human brains have almost none of this capacity. Once neurons are lost to injury or disease, the tissue that grows back is typically scar tissue rather than functioning brain cells. By studying exactly which genes switch on during axolotl brain regeneration, researchers hope to identify the biological triggers that could eventually be reactivated in human tissue — a long-term goal in the field of regenerative medicine, though not something expected to translate into treatments any time soon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do axolotls regrow their whole brain, or just parts of it? Research has focused mainly on the telencephalon, the front portion of the brain. Axolotls can regrow this section after injury, including cases where a substantial piece of tissue was removed, but scientists are still working out how complete the recovery is across the rest of the brain.
Could this research ever help treat human brain injuries? That’s the hope. Because axolotls share many of the same genes involved in neuron growth, scientists studying their regeneration are looking for triggers that might one day be applied to human tissue, though any medical application remains a distant goal rather than a near-term treatment.
The axolotl’s ability to rebuild its own brain tissue remains one of the more remarkable entries in the animal kingdom’s regeneration toolkit, and it continues to shape how scientists think about the biological limits — and possibilities — of healing.
Related Articles
How Axolotls Regrow Entire Limbs From Scratch
The axolotl can regenerate lost legs, its spinal cord, and even parts of its brain. Here's what scientists have learned about how this salamander does it.
What Animal Has the Strongest Bite Force?
Saltwater crocodiles hold the record for the strongest bite force ever directly measured in a living animal. Here's how scientists measured it, and how it stacks up against lions, hippos, and great whites.
How Does Bioluminescence Work in Animals?
From anglerfish lures to glowing plankton, most of the light produced in the ocean comes from a single chemical reaction. Here's how bioluminescence actually works, and why so many animals rely on it.
_male_Nosy_Be.jpg)
Why Do Chameleons Change Colour?
Chameleons don't change color for camouflage the way most people assume. The real mechanism involves nanocrystals in their skin, and the real reason is mostly about communication.
How Do Electric Eels Generate Electricity?
Electric eels can deliver shocks of several hundred volts using nothing but modified muscle cells wired together like a living battery. Here's how the biology behind it actually works.
Why Are Pangolins the Most Trafficked Mammal?
Pangolins are the only mammals covered entirely in scales, and that single trait has made them the most heavily trafficked mammal on Earth. Here's why, and what's being done to protect them.