Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in significant injury to axons, which carry electrical activity in the brain. Ziogas and Koliatsos recently reported in The Journal of Neuroscience that the “SARM1” pathway can regulate this process. When they blocked SARM1 using genetic or pharmacological strategies, they observed a significant reduction in the number of axonal lesions early after injury. The study took advantage of CLARITY analysis to image the brainstem at single-axon resolution.