Some Reactions of the Nervous System to Trauma

Abstract

Injury to peripheral nerve, spinal cord, and brain may be compared in different ways, and several striking resemblances and differences appear. In all instances there is an interruption of conduction, and when the axons are severed they attempt to regenerate : this sprouting, however, is useful only in the case of peripheral nerve injuries. The trophic influences of peripheral nerves are essential for the limb regeneration that occurs in newts, and an embryonic neuropathy may be responsible for the thalidomide catastrophes. Recovery from partial spinal-cord injuries may be related to a reorganization of the connexions of surviving neurones. In the case of closed head injuries, acceleration forces are important, and the human head (and brain) may survive 500 g for a few milliseconds. The demonstration of widespread axonal severing confirms the importance of direct fibre• destruction without there being necessarily much vascular damage. The clinical features of cerebral commotion provide many valuable opportunities for the study of brain mechanisms. © 1964, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.