Personality Changes with Frontal and Temporal Lobe Injuries

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In 1978 a 19-year-old Indian girl, Bhagawhandi P., suffering from a malignant brain tumor was admitted to hospice due to her astrocytoma. There are several types of astrocytoma that can form anywhere in the central nervous system (brain & spinal cord). This appeared when she was only seven-years-old. Though it was restricted and not as malignant, allowing her to lead a normal life for ten following years. “She lived life to the full, lived it gratefully…for she knew she had a ‘time bomb’ in her head” (Sacks, 1985). When she was eighteen, the tumor returned with higher levels of malignancy and it was no longer removable. When Bhagawhandi’s tumor returned, it started to expand moving towards the temporal lobe, steroids were given to reduce cerebral edema. The tumor weakened her left hemisphere causing numbness, followed by more frequent and strange seizures. Her previous seizures were grand mal convulsions, which she had on occasions. Though, her newly characterized seizures involved temporal lobe seizures that caused her not to lose consciousness, instead she would look and feel more dreamy (Sacks, 1985). Furthermore, EEG confirmed the temporal lobe seizures corresponded to involuntary reminiscence taking place. Additionally, this vague dreaminess became more concrete as Bhagawhandi encountered what seemed like visions of India. In Bhagawhandi’s dream like sate, she saw visions of landscapes, villages, homes and gardens that she loved and knew as a child. Neurologists in the text inferred these temporal lobe seizures were due to the steroid she was receiving to keep the tumor under control. The massive doses of steroid are possibly causing toxicity within her system, resulting in the dreamy hallucination. However, it was ... ... middle of paper ... ...ders such as dementias. However administering these tests would not have been effective in Bhagawhandi’s situation. The tumor affected her differently where it promoted dreamy hallucinogenic visions of her country. In her specific case, extreme treatments such as biopsy or radiation therapy are needed. Word Count: 893 Works Cited Blumer, D., & Benson, D. (1975). Personality changes with frontal and temporal lesions. In D.F. Benson and F. Blumer, eds. Psychiatric Aspects of Neurologic Disease. New York: Grune & Stratton. Milner, B. (1968). Visual recognition and recall after right temporal lobe excision in man. Neuropsychologia, 6:191-209. Penfield, W. & Roberts, L. (1959). Speech and Brain Mechanisms, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Sacks, O. W. (1985). The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales. New York: Summit Books.

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