What is "neuropreservation"

n. The preservation of a brain in the hope of future resuscitation.

Neuropreservation is a type of cryonics procedure where the brain is preserved with the intention of future resuscitation and regrowth of a healthy body around the brain. Usually the brain is left within the head for physical protection, so the whole head is cryopreserved. A cryonics patient who undergoes neuropreservation is said to be a neuropatient.

The procedure is often done because vitrification of the entire body is not yet available. Vitrification essentially eliminates the mechanical and chemical damage caused by ice formation, at the cost of cryoprotectant toxicity and side effects of dehydration of tissue due to the blood-brain barrier. Although not a direct consequence of vitrification itself, storage of the vitrified brain directly in liquid nitrogen raises the further aspect of fractures, which are fewer in number but larger in scale in vitrified tissue than frozen tissue, a consequence of cooling from T (-135 °C) to liquid nitrogen's boiling point (-196 °C).