A new breakthrough by Yale scientists may one day help doctors salvage brain function in stroke patients and others suffering from critical brain injuries.
In the April 18 edition of the journal Nature, Yale scientists report that circulation and cellular activity were restored in a pig’s brain — four hours after it died.
This finding challenges beliefs about the timing and irreversible nature of some brain functions after death, according to a press release from Yale University.
The scientists got the animal from a meatpacking plant and used a chemical solution on its brain, using a system they call BrainEx. They then observed some basic cellular functions in the pig’s brain, as ”neural cell integrity was preserved, and certain neuronal, glial, and vascular cell functionality was restored,” according to the press release.
This previously was believed to be impossible after a few minutes following the cessation of oxygen supply and blood flow.
Senior author Nenad Sestan, professor of neuroscience, comparative medicine, genetics, and psychiatry said in the announcement, “The intact brain of a large mammal retains a previously underappreciated capacity for restoration of circulation and certain molecular and cellular activities multiple hours after circulatory arrest.”
Researchers cautioned that the pig’s brain did not have electrical signals necessary for normal brain function, perception, awareness or consciousness.
Co-first author Zvonimir Vrselja, associate research scientist in neuroscience, said, “Clinically defined, this is not a living brain, but it is a cellularly active brain.”
The research was primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) BRAIN Initiative.
Andrea Beckel-Mitchener, chief of functional neurogenomics at the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health, which co-funded the research, said it could advance the understanding and treatment of brain disorders.
The impact of the research for humans remains to be seen, and scientists indicated it is unclear whether the same approach would work with a human brain after death.
Co-author Stephen Latham, director of Yale’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, said the restoration of consciousness was never a goal of this research.
Any experiments involving revived global brain activity would require proper oversight and would have ethical considerations.
“The researchers were prepared to intervene with the use of anesthetics and temperature-reduction to stop organized global electrical activity if it were to emerge,” Latham said in the press release.
Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com
