Evening star., 1933-04-15
Poisons From Blood Stream
Reach Nerve Cells,
Session Told.
MINDS SAFETY RESTS
WITH CHOROID PLEXUS
DR.. R. S. Carroll of Asheville.
N. c., Declares Cerebro-Spinal
Fluid Has Few Protective Cells.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

A new theory of insanity, which
would trace nearly al abnormal human
behavior to defects in a brain filter
by which toxins from the blood stream
are able to get through to the nerve
cells, was advanced before the Southern
Society of Philosophy and Psychology,
meeting here today, by DR.. Robert S.
Carroll, medical director of the High
land Hospital at Asheville, N. C.
THE gray matter of the central
nervous system" he said. differs from
other human tissues in that it receives
its nutrition, not from the blood and
lymph streams, but from the cerebral
spinal fluid. produced chiefly by the
choroid plexus. We vision the choroid
as a specialized filter protecting the
gray matter from blood stream pollu-
tons and secreting as well the chemical
food essential to the brains activities.
Accepting this mechanism, We at
once suspect that every brain Is de-
pendent on the integrity of its choroid
pleXus. A defective choroid would be-
come the basis of most mental Illness.
Effects Pass Quickly.
Certain toxins may pass the choroid
suits. First are the diffusible, universal
toxins, against which no choroid is i'm
pervious, such as ether. chloroform. al
cohol, nicotine, morphine, scopolamin
which universally affect consciousness
and conduct. These are evanescent IN
their action, the acute effect normally
passing in few hours.
The second group may be designated
as the physiological toxins, embracing
chiefly the by-products of infections or
of chronic disturbances of metabolism,
producing -dementing insanities,
such as those of the manic-depressive
group. Such toxins as occur in broken
internal secretion balance may produce
the biochemical underlying cause They
may pass the choroid and disturb nor
NAL brain activity for a prolonged
period. abnormally modifying the func-
ton and not the structure of that
organ. Recovery usually comes. with
no evidence of permanent tissue damage.
Finally in mental disturbances, such
as the primary dementias, we conceive
of toxins causing destructive anatomi-
cal changes. to the end that complete
recovery ultimately becomes impossible.
Another important element in this
theory is found in the very inadequate
the central nervous system as COM
pared with other tissues. Blood carries
1000 white, or protective, cells per
cubic centimeter. Lymph carries 5000
The cerebro-spinal fluid normally has
only three such cells to the drop. The
choroid is the brains protective bar
rier. If the toxic enemy passes this,
the protoplasm of the neuron, in which
metabolism is slow, Is relatively de-
fenseless. Thus the tardy recoveries in
even the more acute mental disturb
ances.
Seepage Accumulates.
Possessing a defective choroid the in
dividual can filter out only certain
percentage of damaging toxins. Grad
ually the seepage accumulates in the
protoplasm of the nerve cell 1t may
be nicotine in excess, or alcohol, or
chemical toxins from tonsils or teeth
Probably in more cases it Is the un-
wholesome chemical product of chronic
auto-intoxicatlon, products of decom-
posing proteids.
Sight of some objects arouses fear
without any previous associations in
newborn infants, causing them to cry
it was shown by experiments reported
by Martha v. Ellesor of the University
of Virginia.
Some extreme behaviorists have
claimed that nothing arouses fear un-
less it is associated by the infant with
pain, loud noise or falling. The ex-
perimenter found that the sight of a
devils mask or brown fur or the
flashing of a light, caused the babies
to cry the first time. Later they be-
came accustomed to these sights and
would smile at them
A newborn baby sees fairly well by
its tenth day, DR.. w. c. Beasley of
Johns Hopkins University reported on
the basis Of tests with $50 babies at the
Baltimore hospital. There is a popular
belief that infants are functionally
blind for several weeks after birth He
found that the pupilfary reflex to light
was well developed by the tenth day of
life and that the child can follow with
both eyes an object moving vertically,
horizontally or In circle. He described
a special technique for investigating
visual acuity and color vision.