We've been talking about neuroplasticity in class, and today we talked about split brain patients. I think The split brain idea is slightly creepy. I think it would be cool to observe a patient like that but I don't think I'd ever want to be one. I feel like those patients are at a serious disadvantage because our brain halves communicate so frequently. I can't imagine what it's like to not have that. Then again, I've also never had a seizure so... maybe the surgery would be worth it. Anyway, I was watching the videos Mr. Dreier put on moodle and I found a video in the recommended videos. It's a news story about a girl who had half of her brain removed when she was young to combat a crippling epileptic disease. The video discussed plasticity and how the remaining half of her brain took over the functions of the missing half. I found it fascinating to see such an extreme case dealing with brain hemispheres, and to see how normal the girl appeared. I'd really like to know what, if any, functions her brain did not compensate/adapt for. I think this would be an interesting lifelong study. Are there more people like this out there...?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MKNsI5CWoU
That is one crazy thing you've found Hannah, that is for sure. It's impossible to imagine how bad the disease would have to be to warrant removing a full half of the brain, but it is miraculous how normal of a child she seems. Like you suggested, there might be some stuff that the remaining half just couldn't fix, so I'd like to know what sort of stuff that includes. And any other repercussions removing her brain would have. For example, objectively, wouldn't her intelligence drop significantly? Losing half a brain can't make thinking any easier, can it?
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