If nerves are basically just signal-carrying wires, why cant they just be reconnected with copper wire in the case of injury?

Question

Edit: Or gold. Or something else electrically conductive but biologically safe.

In: Biology

Answer 1

The signals they transmit are electrochemical. A neuron that gets triggered releases ions on one side (near the next neuron). That triggers that neuron, which sends the signal on, so on and so forth.

So it’s not just an electrical current that you can propagate with a wire. There’s a biological component to it.