The article cited by Marinera focuses on developing, eg, young, rat brains and is in relation to possible adverse effects on children.
"Further work is needed to determine whether even older animals are sensitive to DMSO’s pro-apoptotic effects…. Given that we observed apoptosis even at the lowest dose tested, 0.3 ml/kg, exposure to DMSO during transplantation could be producing similar damage in children…. Two published studies (Authier et al., 2002; Fossom et al., 1985) report behavioral effects of DMSO but these studies were done in adult rats when it is unclear whether DMSO-induced apoptosis occurs."
I may be misinterpreting the discussion or just plain wrong, but it seems that this study is basically focussed on how DMSO induces apoptosis of developing neurons, eg those found in baby rats or by extension, children. The study says that the damage caused by ethanol in developing brains is the same type as caused by DMSO:
"Ethanol is the most extensively studied of all the agents that have been found to produce this type of damage in the in vivo rodent…
Given that a brief exposure to ethanol produces apoptosis in non-human primate brain (Farber et al., 2005), the infant human brain might be at risk of developing apoptosis with similar exposure. Studies to further clarify the risk to human infants are needed."
Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) Produces Widespread Apoptosis in the Developing Central Nervous System - PMC
What I got from reading the discussion, basically, was that the study was concerned with damaging developing brains by a mechanism similar to how ethanol damages children’s neurological development, which is well known and studied. What I draw from that, then, is that DMSO, like alcohol, shouldn’t be given to children, but if you drink alcohol, as an adult, then DMSO isn’t likely to do any more harm than that alcohol does, if any. In fact, if you compare the amount of ethanol you’re likely to imbibe on any given bender you’d probably find it comparable to the total amount of DMSO you’d absorb transdermally over the course of your whole PE career.
Futhermore, it seems these possible neurological effects on children have nothing to do with why the FDA has thus far refused to admit DMSO, as discussed here: DMSO: Many Uses, Much Controversy