The illnesses that rob people of the ability to think, remember and create identity often begin, with pinpoint precision, in specific parts of the brain. It is one of the biggest mysteries about brain diseases: why do they start where they do?
Neuroscientists call this phenomenon, in which specific areas and cells in the brain are damaged by a disease while others are unaffected, “selective vulnerability”. Figuring out why it happens – and how to prevent or stop it – is a holy grail of the field.
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