You need to know that the brain is a complex organ & can be damaged easily by excess force on the cranium as well as drugs, alcohol & non-abusive occurrences.
You need to know about degenerative diseases of the brain e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia & Parkinson’s Disease; and about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is & what sort of equipment is used (see below) to make an assessment of brain health.
Strokes can happen for a variety of reasons & these are one of the worst types of brain damage for many reasons including the psychological effects of trying to recover after such an event. Memory is often affected & that can be very distressing for the sufferer of a stroke.
- CT (Computerised Tomography) & MRI (Mass Resonance Imaging) scans & nerve conduction velocity tests, can be used in the assessment of brain & spinal cord damage.
Useful websites:
- http://www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/home.html
- http://www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/hms1.html
- http://www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/hms2.html
- http://www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/cases/case3/mr1/040.html
So, if asked a question about severe brain damage or TBI to the forebrain for e.g. “Why is it that motor function like respiration & circulation are maintained”?
Your answer would be something like that “…….these functions are controlled at the medulla oblongata & if that is not damaged, then the body remains functional (‘alive’) but the cognitive, conscious brain is technically non-functional (‘dead’)……. “
If asked a question about why a stroke patient suffers memory loss, you would need to consider which part of the brain deals with memory. Clearly, if memory is ‘lost’, maybe that brain area has been damaged. Check you know this!
Similarly, with Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss is a classic symptom of the disease. Short-term memory in particular: the region of the brain that deals with short-term memory must have damage of some kind. In Alzheimer’s, plaques develop: the brain actually shrinks too whilst these plaques could be likened to hardened regions of brain tissue. Check you know this!
Why is brain tissue damaged so easily? The problem with most damage to neural cells & tissues is that damaged neurones are unable to regenerate. This goes for all types of nervous tissue not just brain tissue. There are inhibitory molecules in scar tissue that build up over damaged neurones; these result in a poor response to any regeneration. Stem cells COULD be of use in replacement of lost or damaged neurones. Also, there are developments in the promotion of neurone regeneration. One such development is the digestion of the inhibitory molecules & the use of growth factors to enhance regeneration.
Now check out the special information sheets on the following pages:
- Alcohol & Drugs – Basic Facts
- Nervous Communication System – Basic Facts
- Hormonal Communication System – Basic Facts
A Useful Website for the Nervous System: http://www.biologymad.com/NervousSystem/NervousSystem.htm
