Slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease is the goal of most existing treatments, but reversing it is much harder. That’s because once neurons are lost, the adult brain lacks the ability to replace them.

But new research, led by scientists at the University of South Carolina, has shown promise in regrowing neurons in brain organoids, and restoring cognition in mouse models of Alzheimer’s.

“After just two injections, these mice became smarter,” says Peisheng Xu, professor of pharmaceutics at the University of South Carolina and corresponding author of the new study, published in the journal Cell Biomaterials.