A part of the brain's ability to shield itself from the destructive damage caused by a stroke has been explained by researchers.
It has been known for more than 85 years that some brain cells could withstand being starved of oxygen.
Scientists, writing in the journal Nature Medicine, have shown how these cells switch into survival mode.
They hope to one-day find a drug which uses the same trick to protect the whole brain.
Treating a stroke is a race against time. Clots that block the blood supply prevent the flow of oxygen and sugar to brain cells, which then rapidly die.
But in 1926, it was noticed that some cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain involved in memory, did not follow this rule.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21547508
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