The Journal of Neurosurgery Podcast Archive

Stem Cells and Central Nervous System Therapeutics

In this podcast Dr. Nathan Selden, topic editor of the March/April issue of Neurosurgical Focus and Associate Professor and Chief, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Oregon Health & Science Center, interviews Dr. Ole Isacson, Professor of Neurology (Neuroscience) at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Neuroregeneration Research/Neuroregeneration Laboratories at McLean Hospital. They discuss the two primary goals of neurotransplantation, restoration in CNS connections and interruption in disease processes; present and future roles of surgery and pharmacology in CNS repair (and the related competition of neurosurgery and neurology); the applicability of deep brain stimulation and neural cell implantation in the treatment of Parkinson disease; whether stem cell therapy holds greater promise than other CNS therapies; what types of stem cells may be best for CNS repair; and what would be an inappropriate use of stem cells in CNS therapy.