Research Paper On Hemispherectomy On The Brain

The lab for this week was a rather intriguing, which was appropriate for the very first lab of the semester. What a great way to start off too! Our take home lab tied in nicely with Monday’s lesson on drugs and their impairments on the brain. While I had enjoyed the comedic presentation on such a serious topic – complete with hilarious commentary over disconcerting visuals – it was nice to sit back and skim of the surface of the vast capabilities of the human brain. Admittedly, the information on plasticity and the procedure known as hemispherectomy did not come as too much of a surprise, as I like to consideration common knowledge, but I was happy to learn the correct terminology for such a fascinating subject. The idea of plasticity, while limited in what it can do, is quite mind blowing. …show more content…
According to the brief history that the audience was given, Jodi began to have seizures around the time after her third birthday. They caused it to become difficult for her to control the left side of her body and were of such severity that they could not be treated with medicines. So the procedure was recommended in hopes that it would limit her seizures. The doctors eventually removed the right hemisphere of her brain because it controlled the left side of her body. I find it interesting that each hemisphere of the human brain governs the opposite side. If they had removed her left hemisphere instead, it certainly would not have produced the same results. If anything, it would have made the situation worse by leaving her unable to control either side of her