[URL]http://www.today.com/health/taking-out-half-kids-brain-can-be-best-option-stop-6C10983490[/URL]
[QUOTE]When doctors told Pete and Michelle Gallagher that they wanted to remove half of their 3-year-old son’s brain, the Attica, Ohio, parents were horrified. But a new study shows the extreme procedure may offer some kids their best shot at a normal life.
“We panicked,” said Pete Gallagher, recalling their reaction seven years ago.
The couple also knew that the dramatic surgery known as a hemispherectomy might be the only workable option to stop the severe seizures, more than a dozen a day, that were robbing Aiden of his ability to
function – and to learn.
“He had forgotten his alphabet. He had forgotten how to count. It was all slipping,” the father said.
Today, Aiden is a healthy, red-haired fifth-grader who goes to regular school and loves to play baseball and basketball. He hasn’t had a seizure since the rare operation, making the boy a poster child for new
research that finds the procedure offers real-world success for children suffering from devastating epilepsy.
[/QUOTE]
I wonder if you can feel the difference in balance
It blows my mind how you can live without one half of your brain and be somewhat normal, if not completely normal.
the younger you get something like this done the more time your body has to develop everything only in the remaining brain
[QUOTE=StupidUsername67;41946432]I wonder if you can feel the difference in balance[/QUOTE]
You don't. This surgery isn't new at all actually and has been in practice since the early 1900's. At that time they thought the empty chasm would cause the brain to shift around causing damage or even feel off balance so they would fill it with things like small balls and such.
But as of late, they discovered that the empty chasm actually fills itself up with brain fluid so it all evens out.
I'm no doctor, could someone explain how this would affect performing daily tasks and body functions?
It's probably best that it happened while he was so young. Now the brain can grow to adapt.
the human brain can recover from so many things in so many ways it's truly a feat of nature we're so damn resilient.
So what sort of ramifactions, if any, does having half a brain cause? Are the two halves of the brain just a redundant system?
[QUOTE=The First 11'er;41946484]I'm no doctor, could someone explain how this would affect performing daily tasks and body functions?[/QUOTE]
If done young enough, it really doesn't have a significant effect at all thanks to plasticity which allows the brain to more or less "rewire" itself to compensate.
Also it depends on which hemisphere was removed. If the surgery was botched it could lead to partial paralyzation and general brain damage. But in the case of unsuccessful surgery you could expect effects like learning impairment, impaired vision and motor skills, mental retardation ect. ect.
[QUOTE=mysteryman;41946502]If done young enough, it really doesn't have a significant effect at all thanks to plasticity which allows the brain to more or less "rewire" itself to compensate.
Also it depends on which hemisphere was removed. If the surgery was botched it could lead to partial paralyzation and general brain damage. But in the case of unsuccessful surgery you could expect effects like learning impairment, impaired vision and motor skills, mental retardation ect. ect.[/QUOTE]
Surely he'll have diminished brain ability?
[QUOTE=Lambadvanced;41946526]Surely he'll have diminished brain ability?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, in the sense that half of his brain is missing, so he only has half his old brain ability.
[sp]Serious answer, if it is done early then the brain adapts and there is not very much of a change believe it or not. It's amazing.[/sp]
Could they not have tried the route those other parents took, with the tincture of cannabis oils or something? I'd much rather try that avenue for my kid than go and get half his brain removed.
[QUOTE=Gnomical;41946565]Yeah, in the sense that half of his brain is missing, so he only has half his old brain ability.
[sp]Serious answer, if it is done early then the brain adapts and there is not very much of a change believe it or not. It's amazing.[/sp][/QUOTE]
So what, the brain becomes 2x more efficient? If so, then we should use this to boost the intelligence of children, force their brains to get super great.
They cut out the good side, now all that is left, is the evil.
Brain surgery fascinates me to no end. To think that you can go in and remove so much of it and still have a perfectly normal functional life is incredible. I guess the brain is mostly just 'base material' anyway, in that a vast majority of it is identical tissue that isn't specifically needed for one reason or the other. You cut out one bit, and whatever would have been sent through that area just goes somewhere else, like a general storage medium or something.
Awesome stuff.
The other half takes over for the missing parts of the brain. It will function like a normal brain afaik. It's just the establishment of nervous connections within the brain tissue, so as long as they exist, he can function.
[QUOTE=Lambadvanced;41946579]So what, the brain becomes 2x more efficient? If so, then we should use this to boost the intelligence of children, force their brains to get super great.[/QUOTE]
No. The brain has a thing called plasticity, which essentially allows it to rewire itself. In older people this usually happens when you don't use certain parts of your brain, or learn new things; it will rewire itself to form new connections or delete old and unused ones. When this sort of surgery is done very young the brain will actually use the remaining half of the brain almost just as well as someone with a full brain.
[editline]24th August 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Sobek-;41946598]They cut out the good side, now all that is left, is the evil.
Brain surgery fascinates me to no end. To think that you can go in and remove so much of it and still have a perfectly normal functional life is incredible. I guess the brain is mostly just 'base material' anyway, in that a vast majority of it is identical tissue that isn't specifically needed for one reason or the other. You cut out one bit, and whatever would have been sent through that area just goes somewhere else, like a general storage medium or something.
Awesome stuff.[/QUOTE]
Look up Phineas Gage
you only use 3% of your brain anyways.
Hell, half of facepunch barely uses 1%
[QUOTE=bisousbisous;41946640]No. The brain has a thing called plasticity, which essentially allows it to rewire itself. In older people this usually happens when you don't use certain parts of your brain, or learn new things; it will rewire itself to form new connections or delete old and unused ones. When this sort of surgery is done very young the brain will actually use the remaining half of the brain almost just as well as someone with a full brain.
[editline]24th August 2013[/editline]
Look up Phineas Gage[/QUOTE]
So..the brain becomes 2x better in general? If half can become as good as the whole, then it's 2x better. (.5 x 2 = 1)
[QUOTE=A_Pigeon;41946671]you only use 3% of your brain anyways.
Hell, half of facepunch barely uses 1%[/QUOTE]
That is a myth, and a stupid sounding one at that.
[editline]24th August 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Lambadvanced;41946690]So..the brain becomes 2x better in general? If half can become as good as the whole, then it's 2x better. (.5 x 2 = 1)[/QUOTE]
...No. You are still missing half your fucking brain. It just uses the half left to take on the responsibilities of a brain with both halves. You cant cut a brain into fourths and get a brain that is 4x better.
[QUOTE=bisousbisous;41946693]That is a myth, and a stupid sounding one at that.
[editline]24th August 2013[/editline]
...No. You are still missing half your fucking brain. It just uses the half left to take on the responsibilities of a brain with both halves. You cant cut a brain into fourths and get a brain that is 4x better.[/QUOTE]
THEN WHY ARE YOU SAYING: "When this sort of surgery is done very young the brain will actually use the remaining half of the brain almost just as well as someone with a full brain."
[QUOTE=Lambadvanced;41946719]THEN WHY ARE YOU SAYING: "When this sort of surgery is done very young the brain will actually use the remaining half of the brain almost just as well as someone with a full brain."[/QUOTE]
Because it does. It doesn't make it 2x better. This isn't some sort of magical process that makes a brain twice as good.
Seriously, it isn't that hard to understand.
[QUOTE=Lambadvanced;41946719]THEN WHY ARE YOU SAYING: "When this sort of surgery is done very young the brain will actually use the remaining half of the brain almost just as well as someone with a full brain."[/QUOTE]
it's called brain plasticity. when you're young all your neural pathways haven't fully developed yet, so the other half of your brain can still develop all those pathways.
not that difficult to understand. here, this link might be able to help you.
[url]http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html[/url]
neuroscience for kids
Don't they sever the corpus collussum? Isolating the two halves of the brain to prevent seizures?
[QUOTE=CabooseRvB;41946762]Don't they sever the corpus collussum? Isolating the two halves of the brain to prevent seizures?[/QUOTE]
In extreme cases of incurable seizures, yes.
[QUOTE=A_Pigeon;41946671]you only use 3% of your brain anyways.
Hell, half of facepunch barely uses 1%[/QUOTE]
You must really use 3% if you still believe in this myth
[QUOTE=ShazzyFreak0;41946752]it's called brain plasticity. when you're young all your neural pathways haven't fully developed yet, so the other half of your brain can still develop all those pathways.
not that difficult to understand. here, this link might be able to help you.
[url]http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html[/url]
neuroscience for kids[/QUOTE]
Um I'm not confused about plasticity, I'm confused about what Bisous is saying, he said "When this sort of surgery is done very young the brain will actually use the remaining half of the brain almost just as well as someone with a full brain.", that literally just straight up says that a half of a brain will be almost as good as a full brain, this implies that that half is almost equal to 1, which makes it approximately 2x better.
[QUOTE=NoobSauce;41946784]You must really use 3% if you still believe in this myth[/QUOTE]
Exactly
[QUOTE=Lambadvanced;41946791]Um I'm not confused about plasticity, I'm confused about what Bisous is saying, he said "When this sort of surgery is done very young the brain will actually use the remaining half of the brain almost just as well as someone with a full brain.", that literally just straight up says that a half of a brain will be almost as good as a full brain, this implies that that half is almost equal to 1, which makes it approximately 2x better.[/QUOTE]
I give up. A brain is not a computer. Half of it that can [B]change itself over time[/B] to function close to a full brain doesn't make it twice as good.
[QUOTE=The First 11'er;41946484]I'm no doctor, could someone explain how this would affect performing daily tasks and body functions?[/QUOTE]
[i]You'll never play the piano again.[/i]
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
