Monday, February 25, 2008

Schizophrenia and Making People Smarter

The role of glutamate in mental illness, especially schizophrenia. More drugs, with the hope that there won't be side effects. When you're monkeying with the brain, I can't imagine not having side effects.

The most interesting part of the research, for me, was this throw away sentence:

Another glutamate drug, meanwhile, has been shown in preclinical studies to reverse mental retardation in adult rats, a finding that previously appeared impossible, Dr. Insel said.
Can you imagine the implications of reversing mental retardation? And, would a smart person be made smarter with a drug like this?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not that crazy about meds but if they came out with a pill to make you smarter, I would be the first in line. :-)

Anonymous said...

I can see the warning message now.... "May cause terminally high cognitive functioning. Some users experience difficulty with tasks such as dressing oneself, feeding oneself, communication and reproductive functions. Please ask your doctor if you are dumb enough to try this drug today." ;)