I wonder...
If scientists finally find a way to replace neurons lost to certain neurological disorders such as Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Crutzfeld-Jacobs, etc. with stem cells, or some other method...

Would they be able to give a person a fresh start?

What I mean is that, human beings are creatures of habit. Most of us do the same things over and over again every day until something new comes along...

So, would fresh neurons give us a chance to live a new life?

The person with Alzheimer's has forgotten a lot of stuff due to the disease. With regrown neurons would the memories return? or (because the neurons are new) would they be given a chance to form new memories? Like if they sucked with directions before, would they be able to learn the streets of DC well enough to be a professional cab driver or something?

That'd be hot.

There is a very popular theory that we are born with all of the neurons that we are going to have at birth, but then we lose them along the way as we get older...

I don't know if the loss is from learning new things or from the inevitable traumatic events that we encounter throughout life. (My suspicion is that it's the trauma. There was a study that I read that said that people's "brain shrinks" who experience chronic pain)

But there is also evidence that new neurons are formed (or at least new connections between neurons are made) later in life...

So, what's the deal?...

By creatures of habit, you're speaking for yourself. Personally, I abhor routine and often vary it or break it. Replacing neurons for alleviating various ailments or diseases would only give you a fresh start in the sense that you would have normal cognitive capabilities that were made sub-normal by the disease or ailment. These 'normal' cognitive capabilities would likely include better retrieval of memories.

I think in the future, stem cell technology can help regenerate nervous tissue