Brain Cells

[pezza.......]

In the average human being, is it true that each day a few thousand brain cells die each day? If so can someone be a little more exact? Thanks

[Ember]

Yes its true, there's a pile of the little beggars lying at my feet even now, but don't worry keep using the brain you will find it still works.

[Quizmonster]

Click http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1996/10.03/Agi
ngBrainsLose.html and a link will take you to a 'Harvard University Gazette' website which says that we do not lose masses of brain-cells every day and that, frequently, there is no noticeable difference between the brain of a 50 year-old and that of a 90 year-old in terms of cell numbers.

There are, of course, loads of other websites that say we do and that there is!

[WillyMackay]

People go on about losing brain cells, but some scientists think this is a good thing. Since as you lose these cells your brain becomes more "streamlined". So an electrical impulse is less likely to get confused travelling through fewer nerve cells. This streamlining is linked from the transition between babyhood(when the brain is full of brain cells) to when a child begins to develop language(when they have reduced the number of brain cells.)