It is now recognized that necrotic neurological insults often trigger apoptosis in a subset of neurons. It is also now apparent that such apoptosis rarely matches the 'classical' apoptosis seen during development or the physiological turnover of cells outside the nervous system. As a result, the view has emerged that the 'apoptosis-like' changes that follow necrotic insults represent a different phenomenon, which is on a vague continuum with the necrotic features of cell death. We suggest that apoptosis following neurological insults is, in actuality, mechanistically identical to classical apoptosis. However, the atypical apoptotic endpoints that are observed are inevitable, given the way in which insult-triggered apoptosis is likely to have evolved.