>> I was under the impression that your heart *can* recover from damage. 
>> Similarly, you can't regrow brain cells, but the brain has an impressive 
>> capacity to reassign functions and regain normal functioning after 
>> fairly serious injury.
>>
> Well, actually, the brain can grow new cells, it just doesn't do so 
> much, and it wouldn't help in some cases, since the *data* is encoded 
> into the existing cells. It might, in theory, repair itself with new 
> tissue, but the result would tend to be a blank slate, with no means to 
> relearn the correct responses. Its likely that there is some genetic 
> markers that strongly inhibit new growth, precisely due to how it could 
> destabilize the existing pattern.

I find it interesting that every single person's brain appears to be 
organised in roughly the same way. As in, there's a specific part of the 
brain that does function X, and it's in the same place in [almost] 
everybody's brain. Clearly much of the brain's structure must be 
hard-coded genetically or something.

Anyway, as I was saying, apparently the brain has the capacity to move 
those functions of other regions in case of damage. To an impressive 
degree...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message