What Is the Memory Capacity of the Human Brain?

Can an old head injury suddenly cause detrimental effects much later in life?—Anonymous, via e-mail Douglas Smith, professor of neurosurgery and director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania, answers: ALTHOUGH A BRAIN INJURY from a car accident or a collision during a football game often seems to cause a sudden change to cognitive ability years later, this change does not just appear out of the blue—the damage has been building up slowly, unnoticed, over time. Postinjury, the progressive brain deterioration that may occur likely reaches a tipping point, after which the loss of function “suddenly” becomes obvious. TBI commonly damages nerve fibers in the brain called axons. In addition, with axons disappearing or not functioning well after TBI, a person’s ability to process new information may slow down. Most people with TBI will have progressive axonal damage, but it is difficult to predict who will suffer from cognitive changes years later. "MR.

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