[bjs1779]

There was severe hydrocephalus within the cerebral cortex.

Oh, now we find out that she had a cerebral cortex afterall.

Hydrocephalus is a highly treatable condition with simple use of shunts to drain the fluid away. I think it shows the medical neglect this poor person had to endure.

[kozachka]

Bull. Your knowledge of medicine is minimal at best. Hydrocephalus, in the very early stages, and when due to blockage of CSF flow, can be corrected by shunting.

In her case the fluid was there occupying space, replacing tissue which had died. And this was a chronic condition, secondary to the anoxia she suffered when her heart stopped many years earlier.

Neurons, unlike cells in other parts of the body, do not regenerate. You can produce new bone, muscle or blood tissue, but there is very little new neuronal growth after birth.

[kozachka]

Oh, now we find out that she had a cerebral cortex afterall.

No one ever said she had NO cerebral cortex, did they? Hers is severely damaged and much of it is gone. But there is some.

Sort of like when you have a massive heart attack--much of the tissue gets damaged and dies, the neuronal pathways get screwed up, and the heart can no longer beat.

But it's still there.