http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/woman.brain/index.html?iref=allsearch
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Born with half a brain, woman living full life
This story, published on CNN.com by Kelly Marshall and Eric Marrapodi (October, 2009) is about Michelle Mack, a woman who was born with only half of her brain (the right side). Despite this severe physical abnormality, what is amazing is that Mack speaks completely normally and was able to graduate from high school and hold a job. Despite the fact that Mack had a rough childhood and felt frustrated frequently, it was not until age 27 that doctors realized Mack only had half of a brain. According to doctors, the right side of Mack's brain was able to rewire itself to make up for the lack of a left hemisphere so that Mack could function more normally. Despite Mack's almost normal language abilities, however, she does have some issues with visual processing and controlling her emotions. This case study is interesting because it demonstrates the plasticity of the brain. When part of the brain, or even an entire half, is lesioned, other structures sometimes take over to compensate for functions that are normally carried out by the lesioned brain regions.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/woman.brain/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/woman.brain/index.html?iref=allsearch
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Wow this is one of the most interesting posts I've seen. The fact that someone could survive for almost 30 years without knowing they were missing half of their brain is mind blowing. I knew that neuralplasticity was high during childhood but I had no idea that you could essentially rewire half of your brain. It would be interesting to know at what stage in development this defect occurred. Also, because the right and left hemispheres are dominant in certain traits, I would like to see how she performs on tasks that are more heavily dependent on the left hemisphere. Does her right hemisphere completely compensate for the lack of her left hemisphere or does she have difficulty on such tasks?
ReplyDeleteWow, it is fascinating that she was still able to function so normally. I can't believe she didn't even know that half of her brain wasn't there. I'd like to know more about the problems she did have, like you mentioned controlling her emotions. Does this mean her amygdala was affected?
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