Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare but fatal condition of the motor neuron. Despite intense therapeutic research in recent years, riluzole remains the only drug with proven efficacy in patients with this disease. In 2008 an Italian clinical-basic study reported benefits with lithium carbonate in both the experimental model of ALS and in a small sample of patients. In the same year, two Chinese studies showed a synergistic neuroprotective effect of valproate administered with lithium in neuronal cultures and in G93A ALS transgenic models.