Brain damage or brain injury is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain damage may occur due to a wide range of conditions, illnesses, or injuries.

Possible causes of widespread (diffuse) brain damage include prolonged hypoxia (shortage of oxygen), poisoning, infection, and neurological illness.

Common causes of focal or localized brain damage are physical trauma (traumatic brain injury), stroke, aneurysm, or neurological illness.

The extent and effect of brain injury is often assessed by the use of neurological examination, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological assessment.

Brain injury does not necessarily result in long-term impairment or disability, although the location and extent of damage both have a significant effect on the likely outcome.

For more information about the topic Brain damage, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

Cerebral contusion — Cerebral contusion is a form of traumatic brain injury, a bruise of the brain tissue. Like bruises in other tissues, cerebral contusion can be caused ...  > read more

Head injury — Head injury is a trauma to the head, that may or may not include injury to the brain. The incidence (number of new cases) of head injury is 300 per ...  > read more

Amnesia — Amnesia (or amnaesia in Commonwealth English) is a condition in which memory is disturbed. The causes of amnesia are organic or functional. Organic ...  > read more

Traumatic brain injury — Traumatic brain injury (TBI), traumatic injuries to the brain, also called intracranial injury, or simply head injury, occurs when a sudden trauma ...  > read more

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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