Re: What's the maximum amount of brain cells that can be lost without damage?

Dear Gabrielle,

The answer to your question, ”What's the maximum amount of brain cells that can be lost without damage?” is very dependent on the location within the brain.

Some regions have a large impact on a person and other regions of the brain might not show such a drastic change in one’s function. For example an brain area that controls the motor neurons that regulate the muscle for breathing in and out, small amounts of brain tissue lost could be very significant in not allowing one to breath or to regulate breathing appropriately but that same amount of tissue in a frontal cortex might not result in obvious physiological function for life requiring needs, however small changes in behavior might result.

Another import piece of information is if the “wires” or tracts carrying information are cut this could prevent information going to parts of the brain or from the brain to regions of the body. Only a small cut without really removing any brain tissue could result in major problems for a person or animal.

So really it is not the “amount” of tissue lost but where and what type of injury in the brain that matters the most.

You might enjoy the story of Phineas Gage http://english.turkcebilgi.com/Phineas+Gage

As well as Mr. H.M. http://english.turkcebilgi.com/HM+(patient)

Both very interesting historical cases with brain injuries.
Here is a general web site you might enjoy reading over. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/detail_tbi.htm?css=print

Yours,
Robin Cooper http://web.as.uky.edu/Biology/faculty/cooper/default.htm