Stimulation of Trigeminal Afferents Improves Motor Recovery After Facial Nerve Injury

Recovery of mimic function after facial nerve transection is poor: the successful regrowth of axotomized motoneurons to their targets is compromised by (i) poor axonal navigation and excessive collateral branching, (ii) abnormal exchange of nerve impulses between adjacent regrowing axons and (iii) insufficient synaptic input to facial motoneurons. As a result, axotomized motoneurons get hyperexcit...