Do Brain Cells Commit Suicide???
A group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
published a study in the Journal of Neuroscience this summer which indicates that brain
cells die through a process that takes weeks, not the hours or days as previously thought.
After a brain trauma, the damaged cells of the brain slowly die. This includes cells which
appeared not to have been injured by the crash or fall. “Cells die the quickest near
the surface of the brain where the injury occurred, but cells deeper in the brain start
dying later”, according to the study team leader Tracy McIntosh.
The Brain Injury Association reports that nearly 2,000,000 Americans suffer from brain
injury annually, most often from car crashes or falls. Of these, over 56,000 die from
their injuries. These Pennsylvania researchers expect their finding will result in new
methods being developed for the recovery of such brain injury.
(Journal of Neuroscience — August 1998)
Back to Issue -
November / December 1998
Back to 
