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note PD treatment below: Companies looking to spur the growth of new brain cells-a feat that until recently most scientists believed was impossible-include Seattle-based Sound Pharmaceuticals, which has restored hearing in mice by blocking a protein that keeps cells from growing, so that the mice grow new auditory sensory cells. "We've seen some neuronal generation, too," says Sound CEO Jonathan Kil. Other firms are promoting neuron regeneration to boost cognition and combat senility, while others are working to restore the white-matter cells that are savaged by Alzheimer's and other diseases. Stem cells-sort of generic proto-cells that can be coaxed into maturing into any specific type of cell-have also been employed to replace damaged neurons, with some encouraging results. Anders Haegerstrand, chief scientific officer of Stockholm-based Neuro-Nova, predicts his company will have a stem-cell-based Parkinson's treatment on the market by 2013. "I wouldn't dare speak of a human cure for the disease," he says, "but we've cured it in many monkeys." We won't necessarily have to turn to these more radical therapies to sharpen our thinking. The genetic and other new scientific insights into the brain are also helping to point the way to new drugs targeted at brain disorders-drugs that may also end up being taken as smart drugs by many of us without serious disorders. About one in five clinical drug trials currently underway address brain-related illnesses, including some 300 drugs for Alzheimer's alone-and at least 40 of these candidate drugs have the potential to end up as IQ- or memory-boosting drugs. Among the many small companies that have sprung up to focus on such brain-tuners are CoMentis, a South San Francisco firm trying to develop a drug that offers the mind-sharpening effects of nicotine without its addictive and other unhealthy aspects; San Diego-based Helicon Therapeutics, which is working with a protein that links short- and long-term memories; and San Diego-based Ceregene, which is looking at injectable viruses that activate invigorating "nerve growth factors" in brain cells. Accera in Broomfield, Colorado, already markets an FDA-approved, prescription-only "medical food" designed to get extra energy to brain cells, and it has been shown in studies to slight-ly boost cognitive test scores for some Alzheimer's sufferers and others. "The scores start improving within 30 minutes of drinking it," boasts Accera CEO Steve Orndorff. The lineup of drugs is likely to lengthen rapidly in the coming years as new discoveries spill out of the lab. In just the past year researchers have found that a protein known as "death receptor 6," which plays a role in the normal development and selective "pruning" of brain and other cells, also appears to wreak wholesale havoc in the brains of those suffering from Alzheimer's and other disorders, causing brain cells to essentially commit suicide. Chemicals that block DR6 have already shown promise in the lab as a way of preserving cognition and memory by interrupting the chemical signals that appear to trigger the mass suicides. The biotech company Genentech in South San Francisco has already achieved some success with DR6 blockers in slowing brain disease in mice, and may be ready to start human trials next year. In theory, such blockers might also eventually prove useful in slowing memory loss and confusion even in normal aging brains. Other research has turned up molecules in the brain that appear to be critical for forming memories, and studies have shown that injecting these chemicals into brains can improve memory in mice. Labs have even demonstrated drugs that block memories, a technique that could in theory restore and sharpen minds by helping to selectively erase traumatic and distracting thoughts-an idea that seemed farfetched when fictionally showcased in the 2004 movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. "It would be great to have this sort of drug in the toolbox for working with traumatic memories that don't respond to other techniques," says Naomi Mael Litrownik, a Needham, Massachusetts, therapist who works with traumatized patients. Some of the most striking results in altering brain function have come not from genomic science as much as from advanced imaging techniques, which give scientists a view of how the brain functions. Until about five years ago, scientists were sure higher intelligence was mostly seated in the front section of the outer layer of the brain, but now it's clear that the sides and back of this "gray matter" contribute as well-in fact, the more gray matter a person has anywhere in the skull, the higher his or her IQ is likely to be, as a rough rule. The amount and quality of the "white matter" underneath, which harbors the physical connections between brain cells, are linked to intelligence as well. Knowing this brain structure in detail has allowed scientists to experiment with applying electric signals directly to various parts of the brain via implanted wires and devices. Neuro-Nexus, for in-stance, hopes to improve its spinal-cord chip therapy by enabling doctors to adjust, via trial and error, which of thousands of nodes on the chip are activated, fine-tuning patient response as different brain cells get juiced. Such deep-brain stimulation has not only been shown to smooth tremors and fend off seizures, but has also in many cases been associated with cognitive and personality changes, holding out the possibility that mental acuity and mood could someday be fine-tuned as well. It may not even require brain surgery, notes Will Rosellini, CEO of MicroTransponder, a Dallas startup that's on the way to bringing to market a device that stimulates the vagus nerve in the neck. "It's a way of reprogramming the cortex from outside the brain, and some of the results are very exciting," he says. Many of these experimental drugs and treatments are likely to wash out due to side effects, and even if they don't, government regulators aren't likely to approve their use for anyone who doesn't suffer from a serious disorder. Some researchers are hoping to develop more natural methods that could have the same IQ-boosting effect in healthy people as drugs and other treatments. The adult brain has turned out to have a surprising ability to extensively reconfigure its connections through mental exercises. Most of us have parts of our brains that are relatively neglected, says Daniel Siegel, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA Medical School, and we can restore them by techniques such as focusing on nonverbal cues when we're conversing with other people, being more aware of what we're thinking, and easing up on the multitasking. "When you do several things at once you tend to do them on autopilot, and fail to engage the parts of the brain that form strong neural connections," explains Siegel. For many people, however, the temptation of neuroenhancers may be hard to resist. The ethical dilemma it poses is a side effect of our new knowledge of the cell. © 2009 Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn