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. This evidence concerns the gene ESR1 and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.