Scientists think RADA and PAT might protect the brain because they believe the brain mostly works through tiny signal buttons (receptors), and if we tweak just the right ones, we could help the brain stay healthy.

This idea says that to make good brain-protecting drugs, scientists need to tell apart the confusing signals in brain cells that happen when receptors are overworked by disease, from the normal, healthy signals they make every day.

Scientists think there might be a special kind of drug that only turns down overactive brain signals in injured areas, without messing up the normal signals in healthy parts of the brain.