There have been various studies in the past that have had concepts and theories of localization of function, also known as functional specialization in the human brain. The theory of localization of function, suggests that different areas and parts of the brain pertain to different body functions such as cognitive speech, visual reception/perception and motor impairment or motor neglect. This topic in particular has gained scientific credibility only recently, in the last two centuries, which is relatively new compared to the history of mankind, through the help of Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke. These two figures are monumental, in terms of fostering the idea and concept of localization of function that have been supported by their clinical case studies. There have been eruptions of other studies that contain significant relevance and evidence which reinforce the theory of localization, such as the empirical studies of Phineas Gage, and Henry Gustav Molaison. Phineas Gage was one of the earliest documented cases of severe brain trauma and brain injury. He was an American railroad construction foreman that had undergone a near fatal experience on his work site. On September 13, 1848, Gage was working with his crew of members to prepare a roadbed for a railroad near Cavendish, Vermont. His objective and task was to add blasting powder and a fuse which he would compact into the holes of the rocks to clear them. However, when he was using an instrument, known as a tamping iron, to press the explosive down, the powder reacted and blew up on contact. The explosion lodged the tamping iron into his skull that entered from the left cheek and exited through the top right of his skull. Gage was, to astonishment, conscious on site and was r... ... middle of paper ... ...es of neuroscience to what it is today. HM, allowed physicians to look at the brain from an experimental standard, in order to derive compelling evidence to essentially be able to understand the brain. These two patients have been the major contributors to the theory of localization of human brain function, so that the psychological and medical world can gain knowledge of how the brain works at a cognitive and biological level. Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_specialization_(brain) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2699/is_0002/ai_2699000205/ http://www.enotes.com/gale-psychology-encyclopedia/localization-brain-function> http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/12/04/the-incredible-case-of-phineas-gage/ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/us/05hm.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_(patient) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage
First, he stayed conscious during his entire accident, which was diagnosed as an open brain injury; in other words, he was alive to feel the pain of the iron rod shooting through his head. Page six of Phineas Gage proves this is shocking by stating “Amazingly, Phineas is still alive… a minute later he speaks.” Second, as the iron rod damaged his brain (causing social problems), the iron rod damaged his skull and face. Gage had huge gashes, a cracked skull, a major loss of blood, and many more injuries revolving his head. On page nine of Phineas Gage, Gage’s immediate physical adversities are described: “He cleans the skin around the hole, extracts the small fragments of bone, and gently presses the larger pieces of skull back in place… he pulls the loose skin back into position…” As anyone can notice, Gage’s physical adversities were very, very harsh, and won’t compare to the adversities faced by Lacks and
Penfield’s recherce and brain stimulation he was able to map the brain and its functional organization in living people. During his experiments he found that sending a shock to certain parts of the brain would have different reactions. By using this method Penfield was able to find the cause of epilepsy seizers and destroy it. In one case the patient would smell burnt toast right before a seizer, he used this knowledge to probe the limbic system to recreate the smell. None of this would have been possible without the map he created, the map was so influential that it is still used today. However, we no longer need to cut open the skull to see what inside, thanks to modern medicine MRIs are used to see what’s going on in our
The brain is an incredibly complex organ, but also vulnerable to damage from outside forces. “Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death, especially in young adults, and a major cause of disability” (Mayer, 2005, p. 483). Accidents can result in forces that jar the skull, causing the brain to strike the skull walls causing bruising or hemorrhaging. In some cases, swelling can lead to herniation in the brain and restricted blood flow that can lead to cognitive impairment. In more severe cases, the result is either a vegetative state or death. Two scales used to measure the severity of TBI are the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), which measures from 3 being comatose to 15 indicating minor trauma based on eye, verbal, and motor responses, and the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), whose last number indicates severity from 1, which indicates minor injury, to 6, indicating certain death. Violence, car accidents, work accidents, and sports injuries are well known causes of TBI.
Traumatic Brain Injury — Football, Warfare, and Long-Term Effects. New England Journal of Medicine. pp. 1293-1296. Doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1007051.
...severe head injury. Journal of Trauma [serial online]. December 2000; 49(6):1065-1070. Available from: CINAHL Plus, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 7, 2014.
While doing research on how concussions affected the brain, they came upon SIS. SIS raised concern in the sports community, they found that they need to be more cautious with the care and d management of athletes the suffered head injuries. '" occurs when an athlete who has sustained an initial head injury, most often a concussions, then sustains a second head injury before symptoms associated with the first have fully healed (Cantu and Voy 1995).'" Michael Bay was a athlete that got a concussions, shortly after he was hit again while being in practice. Mr. Bay die in a deep coma, after the medical examiner perform the autopsy it was found that Michael cause of death was a massive cerebral edema ( a cerebral edema is "the accumulation of fluid in and resultant swelling of the brain that may be caused by trauma, a tumor, lack of oxygen at high altitudes, or exposure to toxic substances." MedlinePlus). The next one is the intracranial injury, there are four major types of intracranial injuries: epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma, intracranial hematoma, and cerebral contusion. The epidural hematoma is a bleeding that develops between the dura and the cranial bones. Subdural hematoma is also a bleed, but it develops below the dura mater. The intracranial hematoma is a bleed that happens within the brain tissue. And the last one the cerebral contusion is
Thesis: Concussions affect children and adults of all ages causing physical, emotional and metal trauma to a person and their brain.
Jones, Edgar, Nicola T. Fear, and Simon Wessely. "Shell Shock and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Historical Review." The American Journal of Psychiatry 164.11 (2007): 1641-5. http://0-search.proquest.com.library.francis.edu/docview/220510935/fulltextPDF/134DFDDE4904573C8F8/1?accountid=4216 (accessed January 23, 2012).
In times past and recent, a person may have expressed their gratefulness to another person with a statement such as, no one expected to lose their life when they woke up today. This case of Phineas Gage is still a modern mystery to some people, in as much, the fact that he survived this horrific incident was a true blessing and a wonder for all to see. At a period in history where the brain’s activities and functions was in high debated, scientist wanting to prove their theory and every situation that involved the brain an avenue in which they used to fuel their research, Phineas gave them an enormous amount of evidence. In making the point that the brain has different lobes that has control over their respective areas and motor skills of
One of the earliest players to bring awareness to brain traumas was Mike Webster, a former Pittsburgh Steeler. In April of 1999, he claimed to be disabled with the NFL Retirement Board. He also had dementia which was a result of the brutal hits he endured during his football career. Webster ran into many problems at the e...
The day of Phineas accident, he was performing his work duties on the construction of a railroad track. His duty was to set explosive charges in holes drilled into large pieces of rock so that they could be broken up and removed. He had to fill the holes with gunpowder, with a fuse, and then pack in sand with a large tamping iron. Because gage was distracted on September 13, 1948, he forgot to fill in one of the holes with sand. In result, when he went to pack down the sand, the tampering iron sparked against the rock and exploded the gunpowder. This situation caused the three-foot iron to blow through Gage's head right below his left cheekbone. Gage only suffered from minor blood loss and his left pupil reacted to direct light for ten days after the accident. Luckily, Phineas Gage survived this dramatic incident and after his recovery he went back to work.
Roger Sperry is one of the big Neurobiologists in the 1950’s. Sperry studied the relationship of the right and left hemispheres of the brain. In one of his experiments he flashed the word “Fork” in front of the patient. If the patient was asked to say the word he could not but if asked to right the word he would start to right the word “Fork”. This happed when the two brain hemispheres were disconnected from each other. At an another experiment he placed a toothbrush in the patients left hand and blind folded the patient and was asked to identify it they could not do it. But if placed in the right hand the patient would know right away what it was. That is just one of the types of study he did in his time.
Most of the noninvasive imaging methods estimate brain activity by changes in blood flow, oxygen consumption, glucose utilization, etc. Discuss the potential problems with using this type of indirect measure.
could be modified or expanded upon given what has been learned about the brain through
The human body is divided into many different parts called organs. All of the parts are controlled by an organ called the brain, which is located in the head. The brain weighs about 2. 75 pounds, and has a whitish-pink appearance. The brain is made up of many cells, and is the control centre of the body. The brain flashes messages out to all the other parts of the body.