Moreover, the expression of ERα and ERβ decreases after SCI in conjunction with severe neural defects and cell death (Tiwari-Woodruff et al., 2007), and selected doses of ERα and ERβ ligands appear to reverse neurodegeneration and exert a neuroprotective effect on animals with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a multiple sclerosis model characterized by CNS inflammation and neurodegeneration, by reducing demyelination and axonal loss in the white matter and in cortical neurons. The gene discussed is ESR2; the disease is experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.