In our body, the brain is the king organ . It is a fundamental structure that allows our survival and regulates and coordinates processes as vital and as breathing and heart rate, as fundamental as perception or movement or as complex as reasoning, learning, emotion and executive skills. The health of this organ is fundamental for us.

However, there are multiple conditions that can affect and damage it, with serious consequences for survival and adaptation to the environment. In this article we are going to talk about some of these conditions, the diseases of the brain .

Diseases of the Brain

There are many factors that can alter the morphology and function of the human brain throughout the life cycle. Broadly speaking, we can classify brain diseases into different categories , depending on their cause.

1. Diseases and genetic disorders

Some brain disorders and diseases are caused by genetic factors that alter the functioning and morphology of this organ. Certain mutations in some genes generate an abnormal functioning of the organism, affecting the brain in certain ways. This type of brain disease usually manifests itself in the early stages of development, either during fetal development or during an individual’s childhood, although in some cases the symptoms may appear in adulthood.

In this sense we can find alterations such as Fragile X syndrome, Down’s syndrome or alterations in neuronal migration that can end up generating important mental disorders.

Another genetic disorder is found in Huntington’s chorea, a genetic and neurodegenerative disease characterized by the presence of non-voluntary movements in the form of twists and turns and by personality changes and the progressive loss of executive functions.

2. Metabolic diseases

The existence of metabolic diseases can cause serious damage to the brain if they are not treated, by depriving the brain of elements necessary for its development .

An example of this type of brain disease is found in phenylketonuria, which is a metabolic disorder that causes the absence of the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase which in turn prevents tyrosine from being metabolized from phenylalanine, causing it to build up in a way that is toxic to the nervous system. Diabetes can also cause problems at the brain level, as the brain needs glucose to function properly.

3. Diseases and strokes

The network of blood vessels that irrigate the brain and provide it with the oxygen and nutrients necessary for its survival is another element that can be altered by different diseases. Its malfunctioning can cause the death of more or less large brain areas depending on the type of vessels affected and their location, either by anoxia or by asphyxia produced by strokes .

Although they are not diseases per se, but rather the result of them, strokes are in fact one of the most common causes of death , whether we are talking about a stroke or a brain attack.

Disorders such as angiopathies, the presence of aneurysms or even metabolic disorders such as diabetes can cause the vessels to become weak or excessively rigid , which can break or become clogged.

4. Brain diseases caused by infection

In our body, the brain is the king organ . It is a fundamental structure that allows our survival and regulates and coordinates processes as vital and as breathing and heart rate, as fundamental as perception or movement or as complex as reasoning, learning, emotion and executive skills.
The health of this organ is fundamental for us.

However, there are multiple conditions that can affect and damage it, with serious consequences for survival and adaptation to the environment.
In this article we are going to talk about some of these conditions, the diseases of the brain .

Diseases of the Brain

There are many factors that can alter the morphology and function of the human brain throughout the life cycle. Broadly speaking, we can classify brain diseases into different categories , depending on their cause.

1.
Diseases and genetic disorders

Some brain disorders and diseases are caused by genetic factors that alter the functioning and morphology of this organ. Certain mutations in some genes generate an abnormal functioning of the organism, affecting the brain in certain ways.
This type of brain disease usually manifests itself in the early stages of development, either during fetal development or during an individual’s childhood, although in some cases the symptoms may appear in adulthood.

In this sense we can find alterations such as Fragile X syndrome, Down’s syndrome or alterations in neuronal migration that can end up generating important mental disorders.

Another genetic disorder is found in Huntington’s chorea, a genetic and neurodegenerative disease characterized by the presence of non-voluntary movements in the form of twists and turns and by personality changes and the progressive loss of executive functions.

2. Metabolic diseases

The existence of metabolic diseases can cause serious damage to the brain if they are not treated, by depriving the brain of elements necessary for its development .

An example of this type of brain disease is found in phenylketonuria, which is a metabolic disorder that causes the absence of the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase which in turn prevents tyrosine from being metabolized from phenylalanine, causing it to build up in a way that is toxic to the nervous system. Diabetes can also cause problems at the brain level, as the brain needs glucose to function properly.

3.
Diseases and strokes

The network of blood vessels that irrigate the brain and provide it with the oxygen and nutrients necessary for its survival is another element that can be altered by different diseases.
Its malfunctioning can cause the death of more or less large brain areas depending on the type of vessels affected and their location, either by anoxia or by asphyxia produced by strokes .

Although they are not diseases per se, but rather the result of them, strokes are in fact one of the most common causes of death , whether we are talking about a stroke or a brain attack.

Disorders such as angiopathies, the presence of aneurysms or even metabolic disorders such as diabetes can cause the vessels to become weak or excessively rigid , which can break or become clogged.

Other diseases of the brain may result from the abuse or withdrawal of certain substances , which alter the normal functioning of the brain or destroy neurons in certain parts of the body. This is the case for example with alcohol or certain drugs such as cocaine or heroin.

For example, we can observe disorders such as delirium tremens or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (which begins first with an encephalopathy in which the subject has alterations of consciousness, hallucinations, tremors and then moves on to Korsakoff syndrome in which the patient presents retrograde and anterograde amnesia among other cognitive alterations).

Apart from the use of and addiction to these substances, we can also find other types of disorders such as those produced by food poisoning or lead poisoning .

10. Malformations

The presence of congenital or acquired malformations in the brain or in the skull can lead to severe alterations in brain function, especially when they occur during the growth stage by hindering the normative development of the brain.

Some examples that stand out within this type of brain disease are hydrocephalus, anencephaly, microcephaly or Crouzon disease.

11. Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a brain disease that occurs due to an unbalanced functioning of neuronal groups, which are hypersensitive and react abnormally to stimulation .

This causes the subject to manifest alterations such as , sudden loss of consciousness, discomfort , memory difficulties, anomie or alterations in executive functions.

This disorder can be caused by a number of disorders and accidents, such as trauma, encephalitis, stroke, tumors, or malformations. However, in some cases it is not possible to determine the cause of the crises.

  • Related article: Epilepsy: definition, causes, diagnosis and treatment

12. Disconnection syndrome

Another highly dangerous brain disorder is the disconnection syndrome, in which one part of the brain loses connection with another or others so that the nerve information cannot be integrated efficiently. One of the best known is the callus disconnection syndrome, in which for some reason the corpus callosum suffers some kind of sectioning or leakage that prevents information from one hemisphere from coordinating and travelling to the other.