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A bit off-topic, but this has some neurological implications. I recently finished Diane Ackerman’s marvelous memoir One Hundred Words for Love. Ackerman is the scientist/poet who was the author of the wide-ranging book A Natural History of the Senses -- later made into a 5-part PBS series. A few years ago her husband suffered a serious stroke with attendant aphasia -- the loss of speech. His and her (successful) attempts to restore his speech culminated in the Hundred Words for Love book. Part scientific explanation of some of the most mysterious aspects of brain function and part poetic examination of the trials of seeing a once-incredibly articulate life partner reduced to using a single syllable. It traces his remarkable recovery and is wrapped in her deep sense of wonder as to how the brain works and how it can repair itself.

One of the more pertinent passages is the following, in reference to giving stroke patients Zoloft:

“Typically prescribed for depression, one of Zoloft’s seldom-mentioned benefits is that it spurs the growth of new brain cell connections in the hippocampus, a rich site for processing memories, including the memory of words learned. A colossal number of brain cells (hundreds to thousands) are born each day, but most die within weeks, unless the brain is forced to learn something new. Then more neurons revive and sprout connections to their brethren. The harder the task the more survivors.” p.81. Italics and underline are mine.

Yes, it’s the hippocampus she’s talking about, not the substantia nigra, but it certainly is positive about the possibilities of brain cell repair.

Jon