Mammals, including humans, are susceptible to halting cerebral blood flow and lowering oxygen levels. If oxygen and blood supply are cut off, consciousness and brain electrical activity will disappear in a matter of seconds, and if cellular activity is short, it will take a few seconds to complete and end within a few minutes.
But Yale University researchers report that they have resumed cell activity that stopped in the pig brain 4 hours after death.
Death of brain cells So brain death has been regarded as irreversible if oxygen and blood supply are cut off. Nenad Sestan, a professor of neuroscience at Yale University, conducted a cell activity study of the entire porcine brain as a small tissue sample could demonstrate the viability of the cells over the course of a few hours.
The researchers linked a system (Brain Ex) that circulates the solution to the porcine blood vessels 4 hours after death. This maintains the integrity of the nerve cell and restores the specific nerve cell or vascular cell function.
According to the researchers, most of the research on the brain has been stopped using the brain, using only trace tissue samples taken from the brain. This discovery will allow us to investigate the original brain in the future, and research on the synthesis and connection of cells will proceed.
It should be noted, however, that the purpose of this study is not to restore consciousness. The team was prepared to stop the electrical activity of the brain due to anesthesia and temperature drops in case the symptoms show signs of recovery. In addition, the solution used for Brain EX is said to be unable to know whether or not the same method can be used for human brain because originally human blood contains a lot of ingredients. For more information, please click here .