The use of toxins to elucidate neural function and disease.

In some cases, toxins can be useful tools to produce models of human disease. This is especially so with neurotoxins, which have been used to simulate disease in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. However, it is important to be cautious in extrapolating the biochemical consequences of the toxins to the respective human disorder. In this respect, 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine has proved to be of particular value and has provided many important clues in the search for the cause of Parkinson's disease; this review focuses on recent advances in our understanding of its mechanism of action.