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Trophic Hypothesis of Neuronal Cell Death and Survival

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Brain Injury and Recovery

Abstract

Recovery of some components of function generally occurs following damage to the brain. Depending on the extent and location of the damage and the age of the organism at the time of the damage, several different mechanisms have been proposed for the observed recovery. These mechanisms include regeneration, collateral sprouting, receptor supersensitivity, and enzymatic hyperactivity (Aguayo, 1985; Marshall, 1984; Cotman and Nieto-Sampedro, 1984). Conceptually, the recovery will occur if there is sufficient residual system to subserve the function—compensation—or if a similar anatomically intact system substitutes its functional activity for that of the damaged system—substitution. In many instances, however, there is no or little functional recovery because the system underlying the lost function is sufficiently destroyed to have no recuperative mechanisms on which to fall back and no other anatomic system is available to take over the lost function. Under these circumstances large numbers of neurons die. A major cause of the loss of function following brain damage is attributed to the death or loss of neurons. Protection of damaged neurons from death, or revitalization of damaged neurons, can be most rationally attempted or planned with a more complete understanding of the basic principles involved in normal survival of neurons during development and aging.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    Fred H. Gage

  2. Department of Biology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    Silvio Varon

Authors
  1. Fred H. Gage
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  2. Silvio Varon
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department and Neural Sciences Program, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 63130, USA

    Stanley Finger

  2. The Brain Research Laboratory, Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695-7801, USA

    T. E. Levere

  3. Programs in Occupational Therapy and Neural Sciences, Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Preventive Medicine, and Psychology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, 63110, USA

    C. Robert Almli

  4. Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, 07102, USA

    Donald G. Stein (Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost for Research) (Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost for Research)

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© 1988 Plenum Press, New York

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Gage, F.H., Varon, S. (1988). Trophic Hypothesis of Neuronal Cell Death and Survival. In: Finger, S., Levere, T.E., Almli, C.R., Stein, D.G. (eds) Brain Injury and Recovery. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0941-3_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0941-3_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8256-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0941-3

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