This sounds very obvious, I know. I assume it doesn’t immediately stop the heart, and people can still survive even while being “brain dead”. So what exactly happens in the body to cause immediate death once a bullet enters the brain?
In: Biology
The *brain stem* is the part of the brain at the back and bottom of the skull, and merges with the spinal cord. It has critical roles in regulating cardiac function and breathing. Someone who is **brain dead** but still has a beating heart and may be still be breathing probably still has some brain stem function, but they are not showing any of the indications of higher brain function.
If the brain stem is destroyed by a traumatic injury, everything immediately required for life (breathing, heartbeat) stops. As a general rule, the further away the injury is from the brain stem, the more likely the patient is to survive, with varying levels of impact depending on where the damage is.
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