By: Nexus Newsfeed
The brains of decapitated pigs can be partially revived several hours after the animal has died, researchers have revealed, with some of the functions of cells booted back up when an oxygen-rich fluid is circulated through the organ.The scientists stress that the brains do not show any signs of consciousness – for example, there was no sign that different parts of the brain were sending signals to each other – and that it does not change the definition of death.
But they say they have found a way to prevent brain cells from sustaining irreparable damage as blood stops circulating, and even to restore some of the cells’ functions.“This is not a living brain. But it is a cellularly active brain,” said Prof Nenad Sestan from Yale University, who led the research.
Sestan added that the results had exceeded expectations. “When we started this study we really never imagined we would get to this point,” he said.The team said the approach could provide a new way to study the brain, and even help in the development and testing of new therapies for stroke and other conditions in which bloodflow to parts of the brain is blocked, causing cells to die.
A number of studies, including those involving cells taken from dead brains, have suggested brain cells might not inevitably die after blood stops circulating.