(Link) I'm Missing a Chunk of My Brain

post by mukashi (adrian-arellano-davin) · 2022-09-05T02:10:04.912Z · LW · GW · 2 comments

This is a link post for https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/04/science/brain-language-research.html

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I'm blown away by this story. This perfectly normal woman is missing a big chunk of the left hemisphere, where the functions associated with language are typically placed. I guess that the main takeaway could be:

"It seems that networks in the brain arrange in a particular way, but if you lose crucial brain regions as a baby - when the brain is still very plastic - these networks can reroute"

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comment by Jayson_Virissimo · 2022-09-05T03:01:51.573Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Another interesting case study:


Phineas Gage was an American railroad construction foreman remembered for his improbable survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, and for that injury's reported effects on his personality and behavior over the remaining 12 years of his life...".

Replies from: mad
comment by mad · 2022-09-05T03:22:27.945Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Apparently the extent to which Phineas was affected by the injury is exaggerated, see: https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4744