Imagine you had a Brain contusion from a head injury or a stroke which affected half your body. Restoring us to a pre injured state may never occur or may take months to years of rehabilitation. We understand that the brain can re synapse meaning it can rewire itself both in the skull and in other areas of the nervous system but we are often left with permanent deficits. For years, doctors assumed that full recovery was often impossible. What if a pill can change this reality, speed and improve how we heal improving our odds for a better recovery? A recent clinical trial of the drug Maraviroc may change your odds for recovery. Originally used for HIV treatment, the drug appears to improve the time that neuroplasticity, which is how the brain remaps damaged neurological pathways improving the outcomes in those who have brain damage. According to a recent NY Times article, the brain begins to rewire itself after an injury and the drug helps this process resulting in patients regaining function with the addition of rehabilitation. As the brain re maps, function returns as it did for a subject of this NY Times story. The mechanism of the drug involves the CCR5 receptor also known as the portal that H.I.V. binds to in order to enter cells. In the 2000s, as the deadly virus gained resistance to older medications, Pfizer developed a drug that blocked this portal and protected cells from infection. While the body has an innate capacity to heal on its own, the drug improves that ability for a much longer period of time and may give promise to people who may have had to live with disabilities from brain damage. Now, they have a tool they can use to enhance how they heal and recover. Read more about this in the NY Times article below A Pill to Heal the Brain Could Revolutionize Neuroscience