The current issue of the online journal Brain includes a study of 15 long-term alcoholic men who decided to go on the wagon. The scientists studied the men’s brains using various imaging studies and computer models. After just two months, the brains of 14 of the men were measurably larger. Metabolic and psychological parameters also increased, as did attention span.
The only man who did not improve had been drinking heavily for 25, the longest of any of the subjects.
The increases represented real gains in brain tissue, not just rises in water content, as has been demonstrated in earlier studies by other people.
These findings support a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brain and nervous system have regenerative powers that scientists are only beginning to recognize. This may be true of other organs as well, such as the heart. I would arge that some of the most creative and promising medical research conducted today is in the field of regenerative medicine.
