Radiation Effects on the Nervous System

One of the most important developments in radiobiology in recent years has been a change in the concept of the ability of the nervous system to withstand the effects of ionizing radiation. Until recently it had been generally believed that the tissue of the nervous system was especially resistant to radiation and that any kind of damage to it could occur only at extremely high radiation doses. Over the past few years, however, there has been increasing evidence to show that the nervous system responds to even small doses of radiation and that this response may often be associated with some form of radiation damage.