I believe some brain damage is permanent and some is not. There are certain aspects of damage that cannot be repaired and there are others that can. I believe we should not confuse the idea of permanent damage with the idea of not recovering.

In short, I believe there are certain aspects of my brain that have been permanently damaged, however, my memory (for example) has improved in the past 5 years (my amalgam removal was in July of 2000) and is now FAR better than it has ever been. I now not only remember short-term things like names, dates and places better than ever, but memories from childhood have come back that were completely missing. It's refreshing but really kind of weird at times.