Old Brain Tissues

The distinction between old brain and new brain tissues is one of the organizing principles of the Third Biological Law (the Ontogenetic System of Special Biological Programs).

Old brain tissues are those whose biological programs are managed by the oldest structures of the nervous system:

• the pons of the brainstem, which relays endoderm tissues (associated with morsel conflicts)
• the midbrain, which relays certain cranial nerve programs (which mostly belong to endoderm, but may have partial connection to old mesoderm)
• the cerebellum, which relays old mesoderm tissues (associated with attack conflicts)

These brain structures evolved earliest, and the tissues they govern are associated with the most fundamental survival concerns: obtaining and processing nourishment (endoderm: brainstem), and protecting the physical integrity of the body from attack or defilement (old mesoderm: cerebellum).

The behaviour of old brain tissues during an SBS is the opposite of new brain tissues. During the conflict-active phase, old brain tissues grow, forming compact, well-organized tumours (adenocarcinomas in endodermal tissues, mesotheliomas in old mesodermal tissues). This is because, in old brain tissues, more tissue means more function, and more function addresses the survival conflict.

At conflictolysis, cell proliferation in old-brain tissues stops and the healing phase begins: fungi, mycobacteria, and bacteria (depending on which specific tissue is involved) break down the tumour tissue, usually plus a little extra (which, if chronically relapsing, leads to conditions visible as "emphysema," "cirrhosis," etc). This microbial breakdown only occurs if the appropriate microbes were endemic to the organism at the time of the DHS. If not, the cell proliferation still stops at conflictolysis, but the tumour tends to calcify and indurate or even ossify, rather than break down and discharge from the body.