brain death
complete cessation of brain function as evidenced by absence of brain-wave activity on an electroencephalogram: sometimes used as a legal definition of death.
Origin of brain death
1Other words from brain death
- brain-dead [breyn-ded], /ˈbreɪnˌdɛd/, adjective
Words Nearby brain death
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use brain death in a sentence
The research team were cautious, using a patient who had suffered brain death, attaching the kidney to the outside of the body, and closely monitoring for only a limited amount of time.
Surgeons have successfully tested a pig’s kidney in a human patient | Charlotte Jee | October 20, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewIt can spot seizures, monitor sleep and even help determine brain death.
How Hans Berger’s quest for telepathy spurred modern brain science | Laura Sanders | July 6, 2021 | Science NewsHumans, for example, can sometimes go on breathing, metabolizing food and physically maturing even after clinical brain death, undercutting our medical and legal concepts of vitality.
Different regions, and even different hospitals, have their own rules about determining brain death.
New guidance on brain death could ease debate over when life ends | Laura Sanders | August 10, 2020 | Science NewsThis is one central reason that situations involving brain death are so complicated—the definition of death is not entirely clear.
What It’s Like to Wake Up Dead | Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Tej Azad | November 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
After brain death modern medicine can keep the body functioning in a near-physiological state for some time.
How To Avoid Brain Death Purgatory | Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Robert M. Lober, MD, PhD | January 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe diagnosis of brain death is usually made at the bedside with corroborating clinical and neuroimaging evidence.
Families and Physicians Debate the True Meaning of Brain Death | Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Richard Joseph | January 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTbrain death implies the complete and permanent absence of neurological function in the cortex and the brainstem.
Families and Physicians Debate the True Meaning of Brain Death | Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Richard Joseph | January 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
British Dictionary definitions for brain death
irreversible cessation of respiration due to irreparable brain damage, even though the heart may continue beating with the aid of a mechanical ventilator: widely considered as the criterion of death
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for brain death
Permanent brain damage resulting in loss of brain function, manifested by cessation of breathing and other vital reflexes, unconsciousness with unresponsiveness to stimuli, absence of muscle activity, and a flat electroencephalogram for a predetermined length of time. Patients who are brain-dead may still exhibit normal function of the heart, lungs, and other vital organs if they are receiving artificial life support.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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