• Question: Why are some people born with a damaged brain? Is there a seperate part of the brain cell for knowledge? To what extent can the brain stop working before you die?

    Asked by nwright to Ben, James, Jen, Michael, Susanna on 11 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Jen Todd Jones

      Jen Todd Jones answered on 11 Mar 2013:

      When people are born with brain damage generally it’s because of a genetic problems, and a complication of the way they developed while growing inside the womb. Or perhaps it can happen when a baby is being born and they run out of oxygen which can make brain cells die quite quickly. Fortunately, both of these things are extremely rare.

      Knowledge as we think of it involves many different parts of the brain itself working together in harmony, not a particular part of the cell necessarily.

      The brain can indeed stop working before you die, for many different reasons. Someone may have had an accident that damaged part of their brain, or suffered from dementia that means the brain cells die very slowly and a very small number at a time, but also remember that they could even have abused alcohol or drugs which can cause a small number of brain cells to die!

Comments

  • Photo: nwright

    nwright commented on :

    thank you very much!

  • Photo: oscarhlionface

    oscarhlionface commented on :

    Can you lose brain cells by taking blows to the head like heading a football with the top of your head?

  • Photo: Jen

    Jen commented on :

    Hi Oscar

    When something hits our head or our head hits a hard surface we called it ‘blunt trauma’, when this happens we can damage some of the cells in the brain and is dangerous. But the force your head is hit, or it hits something hard has to be very great to cause real damage. We have a very thick skull, and it’s designed to protect the brain. Doing a header with a football won’t damage your brain at all, although it might strain you neck muscles if you’re not used to it!

    In some sports getting hit in the head hard is more typical, like rugby or boxing. When this happens you can suffer from concussion which means a short blackout and some memory loss but usually doesn’t mean brain damage. It’s important that after a very bad knock on the head that person has a brain scan, which rugby players and boxers do a few times a year just to be safe 🙂