Can Neurologists be wrong?

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Quote: BRAIN-DAMAGED children are actually able to recover some intellectual ground if the entire damaged half of the brain is surgically removed, researchers are finding.

Its success in children with damage confined to half the brain astonishes even seasoned scientists and suggests that until now, they may have greatly underestimated the brain's flexibility, particularly in older children.

We are awed by the apparent retention of memory and by the retention of the child's personality and sense of humor,'' Dr. Eileen P. G. Vining of Johns Hopkins University wrote in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics. Quote

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/19/science/removing-half-of-brain-improves-young-epileptics-lives.html

this questions the validity of Right, Left hemispheres, and the brain's functions.

“What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is WHAT WE DO.” John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.” Mark Twain

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@Rickoshay75,

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After the operation, all the children had a very weak hand and arm on the side opposite the operation, blocked vision on that side and a weak leg that required a brace to walk or run. In many, however, strength and vision had already been compromised by the underlying disease, and the child actually became stronger after the operation rather than weaker.

Scientists still cannot explain why removing abnormal brain tissue may free the remaining tissue to function more normally. Getting rid of a child's seizures and taking a child off anti-seizure medications, which can be powerful sedatives, may play a major role, Dr. Freeman said.

Dr. Vargha-Khadem, who has followed more than 100 children after hemispherectomy, offered this assessment of the procedure: ''There's always a cost to brain injury. But if that brain injury occurs early, and if it is restricted to one hemisphere, and if the period of seizure disorder is not allowed to continue for too long, then the child really has got a fairly good chance to recoup a lot of the consequences of the brain damage and of the removal of the hemisphere.''

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@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

Quote:
After the operation, all the children had a very weak hand and arm on the side opposite the operation, blocked vision on that side and a weak leg that required a brace to walk or run. In many, however, strength and vision had already been compromised by the underlying disease, and the child actually became stronger after the operation rather than weaker.

Scientists still cannot explain why removing abnormal brain tissue may free the remaining tissue to function more normally. Getting rid of a child's seizures and taking a child off anti-seizure medications, which can be powerful sedatives, may play a major role, Dr. Freeman said.

Dr. Vargha-Khadem, who has followed more than 100 children after hemispherectomy, offered this assessment of the procedure: ''There's always a
cost to brain injury. But if that brain injury occurs early, and if it is restricted to one hemisphere, and if the period of seizure disorder is not allowed to continue for too long, then the child really has got a fairly good chance to recoup a lot of the consequences of the brain damage and of the removal of the hemisphere.''

Here's more on the subject...

A 44 year old French patient had completely intact memory despite the discovery that his skull was full of fluid,

http://www.viewzone.com/memorytest1.html

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/07/brain-not-neces/

This brings up a lot of MRI questions

When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained. Mark Twain.

“What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is WHAT WE DO.” John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

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