Transplantation to the brain--a new therapeutic principle or useless venture?

On the basis of remarkable results from transplantation experiments in animals, the author in 1979 suggested autologous transplantation of catecholamine tissue to the brain as tentative treatment for parkinsonism. Experiences from four patients thus treated are reported comprehensively. Transitory rewarding effects were seen when the transplant was deposited in the putamen. The potential prospects for this principally new therapeutic paradigm are discussed, as well as possible improvements in the method.