The human brain is divided in two different symmetrical parts, the hemispheres, which are connected by the corpus callosum – this connection enables us to engage in higher cognitive processes (Rogers, Zucca & Vallortigara, 2004). Evolution provided us with the capacity to benefit from lateralization, allowing us to perform well while involved in two completely different tasks simultaneously. Furthermore, the plasticity of the brain makes it easy to thrive in extreme situations, such as having the two hemispheres disconnected or even having one hemisphere removed. In such cases the nervous tissue will adapt itself and reach its maximum potential, so that the person can survive and retain consciousness. This ability is more pronounced in children, …show more content…
Lateralisation had been always a characteristic of the brain, it is present in similar ways in most species (Rogers, 2000). Brain function is defined “lateralized” because left and right hemispheres are asymmetrical and therefore specialized for different processes. To understand the advantages of lateralisation many research experiments have been carried out. For example, in the work of Rogers and colleagues (Rogers, 2000; Rogers, et al., 2004) lateralized and non-lateralized chicks were tested while searching for food and keeping an eye on predators. Lateralized chicks could distinguish food from pebbles only with right eye (left hemisphere) and could respond to attack only with left eye (right hemisphere). Results proved that lateralized chicks were faster and more precise at responding to the stimulus. Furthermore, the experiments concluded that there are two advantages to lateralization: at individual level, enhanced skill performance and faster reaction time while multitasking; at social level, being lateralized in the same direction as the majority of animals. Lastly, the hemispheres of a lateralized brain don 't operate entirely independently of one …show more content…
After an injury, thanks to the mechanism of plasticity, reorganization of the sensory and motor systems occurs in multiple levels including the spinal cord, brainstem, thalamus and cortex (Chen, Cohen & Hallett, 2002). Furthermore, if the injury happens at a young age, the reorganization is even more extensive and determines a better recovery. Neuroplasticity and neurogenesis can still happen in adults, but they are less efficient and fast than in children. What happens after an hemispherectomy dramatically proves the resilience of the brain to extensive damage (Villablanca & Hovda, 2000). For example, “when an entire cerebral hemisphere is removed early postnatally in cats, the rest of the brain continues to grow and, in adulthood, the animals do not appear different from normal litter mates” (Villablanca & Hovda, 2000). Many experiments have been carried out to understand more about the consequences of hemispherectomies on the functional structure of the brain. Holloway, Gadian, Vargha-Khadem, Porter, Boyd and Connelly (2000) have studied the sensorimotor functions of the hemiplegic hand after hemispherectomy, and the results proved that all the patients with congenital disease had residual sensory function in the hand contralateral to the hemispherectomized side, while half of the patients had residual motor functions. In patients with acquired disease, 66% had residual sensory function while none
The clip that was particularly memorable was the story of both Katie Worrick and Michael Rehbein’s hemispherectomy. From a neurological perspective, it was astounding to watch both these children survive and function without a part of their brain and if that wasn’t enough they were functioning remarkably well from a cognitive point of reference. I did wonder at first why Katie was still not speaking, but realized that her surgery was still recent when the documentary was made. Just like Michael, who took about 2 years after surgery to regain some of his speech after persistently working on it, Katie too could hope for the same. Having said that, I am also aware of Neuroscientist Dana Boatman’s conclusion that results and recovery times vary from child to child. I did try to find out more about the two children featured in this documentary to see how much life had improved, but could not find any documented information except for an answer to a blog about hemispherectomy by Katie’s mom that said, “My name is Janie Warrick and I live in Richmond, VA. My daughter, Katie who is now 17, had a left hemispherectomy Aug. 8, 2000 in Baltimore, Maryland at Johns Hopkins
The textbook mentioned how it is possible to live with one side of the brain (Lilienfeld et al., 2016). However, I was still a bit confused on this concept because I have always thought that you need both hemispheres working together to function properly. As I watched the TedTalk, I was further able to change my understanding of the concept that you can live with one hemisphere, you would just lose some functions associated with that hemisphere, as Jill explained (Taylor, 2008). Not only that, but from the textbook I never understood how you would feel without one of your hemispheres not functioning properly, I personally thought that you would lose some abilities and it would be difficult to survive. However, the TedTalk changed this understanding of mine because, like Jill, although she lost some functions, she lost all her stresses, and she felt peace, as she states, “So here I am in this space, and my job, and any stress related to my job - it was gone. And I felt lighter in my body. And imagine all of the relationships in the external world and any stressors related to any of those - they were gone. And I felt this sense of peacefulness” (Taylor, 2008). It gave her a whole new world and it never occurred to me that this could happen, so it really expanded on the knowledge obtained from the
Throughout and for many years there has been a lot of controversy on how to trial someone who has committed a crime under the age of 18. A lie will be a lie even if it 's serious or innocent and that 's why just like a crime will always be a crime, no matter what the situation is. The age of a person who has committed murder shouldn 't be an issue or a complication. Many advocate that the juvenile is just a child, but despised that I believe that is no justification or defense for anyone who does a crime. America and the nation need to apprehend that juveniles that are being conducted to life in prison is not just for one small incident or crime, but for several severe crimes according to Jennifer Jenkins, Juvenile Justice Information
The main difference between Sarah’s life before and after the accident involved normality; therefore, one of the brain’s main functions may be to ensure that life is as normal as possible. As shown in Sarah’s life before the accident, people usually do not have to think about performing seemingly simple tasks, such as reading the newspaper. In Sarah’s post-accident case, however, she could not recognize the words on a left side of a book that she was reading to her daughter. Due to damage from the injury, a once simple task for Sarah is now a challenge. Another major theme identified in the book related to brain function is that the brain is involved in a variety of tasks, such as motor movements and coordination, sensory information, and learning. This is evident in Sarah’s life before and after her injury. For example, due to Sarah’s left neglect, she could not recognize the position of her left side of her body for walking, and she also could not see the left side of her body. For brain injury, Genova indicated that damage to structures of the brain affects function. Since Sarah’s left side of her body was affected, her right hemisphere was damaged (i.e., the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice-versa). The brain bleed Sarah experienced must have affected certain structures in the right hemisphere, but the brain is capable of healing. Presumably, this is
One of the most memorable case studies I read about in high school psychology was the procedure of removing large portions, sometime half the brain, to treat young children with epileptic seizures. This procedure, called hemi-spherectomy, was developed in the 1920's but rarely performed due to complications (8). With the advances in medicine today, it has become a more common practice in treatment severe epilepsy. At first, though the procedure was expected to stop the seizures, doctors did not expect these children to ever function normally. After all, with so much of the brain missing, it is hard to expect much of the mental functions of these children. Surprisingly, these children often retained much of their personality, memories and sense humor (8), awing their doctors with the flexibility of the brains to adjust after such invasive surgery.
In the article “Brain Gain: The Underground World of “Neuroenhancing” Drugs” (Yorker 2009) Margaret Talbot discusses the misuse of prescription drugs that enhance academic performance at the college level. First Talbot introduces readers to a young college history major at Harvard University named Alex who receives a description of a demanding, busy life which seems impossible to control without the safety unapproved adopted use of a drug named Adderall. After that Alex’s dependency on the prescription drugs cognitive enhancers is described when he asks his doctor to increase the amount of intake and the listing of his daily routine on using Adderall during a week that required him to write four term papers. Next Talbot describes a personal
Here the sensory data is stored and consists mainly of the senses found within the body which comprises of taste, touch, smell, temperature. Here these senses are integrated and processed before being transported to the necessary region to fulfil the response. If the parietal lobe was severed or damaged the human body would not be able to function properly as in the human body would not be to feel nor touch nor sense the feeling of being touch due the damaged that controls this motion in the parietal
The two hemispheres of the brain are the left and the right hemisphere. Each having it's own unique purpose and function. The two hemispheres are separated by a fold down the middle connected only by a thick nerve cable called the corpus callosum. The Left hemisphere is thought to be the logical side controlling speech, reading, writing, details, facts, maths and science and rational, literal, practical analysis. The right hemisphere is seen as controlling the intuitive, creative side of life, with spatial perception, symbols and images, face recognition, imagination, beliefs and fantasy. (Vered, 2013, www.brainskills.co.uk)
It has been proven that a child’s early years are the peak at which the mind can bend and shape, creating the foundation for a life. We know now that even before birth, the mind is a delicate matter that if improperly taken care of could alter a person’s entire life. Nourishment and stimulation before and after the birth of a child mold’s the brain in its most malleable state. Medical and scientific institutes paired with parenting information organizations have made information readily available for parents, childcare providers, and students to advise them of the importance of childhood brain development. This information is not only critical for the child, but for the person they will become in the future.
Generally the left hemisphere of the brain is the site of language, motor activity on the right side of the body, and logical thought based on language. The right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for motor activity on the left side of the body, context perceptions, and holistic perception. The orbito-frontal cortex (the part of the brain directly behind the eyes) is responsible for integrating emotional responses generated in the limbic system with higher cognitive functions, such as planning and language, in the cerebral cortex's prefrontal lobes(Culp). The left orbito-frontal cortex is responsible for memory creation while the right orbito-frontal cortex is responsible for memory retrieval. Healthy functioning requires an integrated right and left hemisphere. A substantial number of synaptic connections among brain cells develop during the first year of life. An integrated brain requires connections between the hemispheres by the corpus callosum. Abused and neglected children have smaller corpus callosum than non-abused children. Abused and neglected children have poorly integrated cerebral hemispheres. This poor integration of hemispheres and underdevelopment of the orbitofrontal cortex is the basis for such symptoms as...
The corpus callosum binds the left and right hemispheres of the brain together, both physically and communicatively. After this operation has been performed, there was a remarkable development with how we perceive things and some of the results showed how much we rely on the connection between the two halves of our brain. There are also advantages of having a split brain. A study performed by Rogers et al, 2004 found that when you have two halves of a brain then it increases your ability to both look for food and watch for predators at the same time. Possibly demonstrating that the connections between our ancestors’ brain hemispheres were less developed. Another advantage is having the ability to read two pages at once. Of course, there are more disadvantages than advantages of having a split brain. An example of one is the most famous split brain study of all time, Sperry, 1968. In this study each participant, all having two halves of a brain, was shown two different images. One in each visual field and when asked to draw the image they had just seen they would draw the image they saw on the left but they would describe it as the image they saw on the right. This shows that the left side of the brain, which controls the right visual field, contains the information to be able to describe an object when seen
The corpus callosum binds the left and right hemispheres of the brain together, both physically and communicatively. After this operation has been performed, there was a remarkable development with how we perceive things and some of the results showed how much we rely on the connection between the two halves of our brain. There are also advantages of having a split brain. A study performed by Rogers et al, 2004 found that when you have two halves of a brain then it increases your ability to both look for food and watch for predators at the same time. Possibly demonstrating that the connections between our ancestors’ brain hemispheres were less developed. Another advantage is having the ability to read two pages at once. Of course, there are more disadvantages than advantages of having a split brain. An example of one is the most famous split brain study of all time, Sperry, 1968. In this study each participant, all having two halves of a brain, was shown two different images. One in each visual field and when asked to draw the image they had just seen they would draw the image they saw on the left but they would describe it as the image they saw on the right. This shows that the left side of the brain, which controls the right visual field, contains the information to be able to describe an object when seen
Sperry, R. W. (1982, September 24). Some Effects of Disconnecting the Cerebral Hemispheres. Science Megazine, 217, 1223-1226.
In the video "Powerful Stoke of Insight," Dr. Taylor share a personal story of how she experienced when she had a stoke years ago. She vividly illustrated the distinct functions of left hemisphere and right hemisphere. Since her stoke occurred in the left hemisphere, she had a hard time to process language during the tragic event happened. She was paralysis and could not understand any of the word from 911 telephone operator when she finally reached the phone. According to Dr. Taylor, "Our right human hemisphere is all about this present moment, [and] our left hemisphere thinks linearly and methodically." Due to the reason that her stoke damaged her left hemisphere, she could not think logically at the moment. This presentation thoroughly explain the concept of lateralization in biological psychology research method. I find it very interesting because I never learn that each hemisphere do in charge of different functions that affecting our
...re of the brain is just half of the brain so why is it the only half being explored in school? This failure to confront the other hemisphere causes weakening in the right hemisphere since the right hemisphere isn?t being exercised.