The Protective and Therapeutic Effects of Poisoning Brain Cells

The Protective and Therapeutic Effects of Poisoning Brain Cells 

An increasing number of psychiatric drugs have been shown to cause abnormal proliferations of brain cells. The process is abnormal, first, because it is caused by the toxic impact of a drug second, because the drugs are already known to cause many clinically obvious toxic effects 

Second, these drugs produce abnormal cell growth. The researchers call this process neurogenesis as if it were benign but the neurons are not normal in appearance. According to Lagace and Eisch (2005), 

In general, these studies have assessed neuron proliferation, neurite [axonal] outgrowth, regeneration, and differentiation. In sensory neurons, lithium, valproic acid, and carbamazapine have a common effect of increasing growth of cone formation, leading to a spreading 

These authors are a little more skeptical than others they do not want to make the complete leap to clinical, therapeutic effects. But they are hoping To determine if the clinical efficacy of mood-stabilizing drugs is dependent on the neuroprotective or neurogenic properties of these medications, greater strides need to be made in relating findings 

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