"Previous studies with chemical neurotoxins have shown that lithium has a protective effect on the nervous system. Lithium has to be given for 2 or 3 days for protection to develop and reaches maximum protection after 6 or 7 days of treatment. Maximal protection is reached at 100 mg./kg.

The current study by the authors was done to study the neuroprotective effect of lithium against irradiation damage. The damage was tested by following changes in gene and protein expression before and after hippocampal irradiation in rats. Also, the rats were studied for their ability to learn. Slides of the rat’s brains were studied for irradiation changes. Live brain cells were studied for their ability to grow after irradiation.

The studies showed that irradiation of the newborn rat brain resulted in problems with spatial navigation, probably due to damage to hippocampus. The females showed more cognitive damage than the males. The animals that had been pretreated with lithium chloride (LiCl) showed less difficulty with spatial navigation. Previous studies have shown that LiCl has no effect on the growth of cancer cells.

LiCl pretreatment resulted in a 2-fold increase in the genes that block apoptosis, increase DNA repair and increase neurogenesis."
http://www.rainbow.coop/library/lithium-treatment-and-neurocognitive-deficit-...