QUESTIONS - DISCUSS THEM WITH YOUR TEACHER
Brain
1. What is the most amazing and most mysterious thing about our brain?
2. What are some extraordinary abilities some people have?
3. Is technology augmenting our brain?
4. What special ability would you like to have?
5. Do you think male and female brains differs a lot or they're exactly the same? Why or why not?
6. What do you think about most often?
7. What tricks does your brain plays on you that you hate?
8. Do you think humans will ever completely understand the brain function? Why or why not?
9. When do you use your brain the most?
BEFORE READING - VOCABULARY
Match the words in blue in the article to their meaning above
Amazing Things People's Brains Have Done
The human brain can do some amazing things - and humans can do amazing things because of it.
Here are some true stories of the things that a small handful of people's brains have done.
FIRST STORY
Henry Molaison was a one-of-a-kind brain patient. He was literally the only person to have ever undergone a radical procedure that removed the medial temporal lobe to treat debilitating seizures. When his physician found what had become of his patient's memory, the doctor refused to carry out the procedure on anyone else and successfully lobbied against its use by other physicians.
What happened? The removal of Molaison's medial temporal lobes, located above the ears, left him with the rare disorder of complete anterograde amnesia. As a result of this condition, Molaison was completely unable to form any new memories. Molaison could retain old memories and remember the ones he'd formed throughout his life up until the surgery that took place in his 20s. He was also capable of forming procedural memories, or habits. However, he couldn't form new declarative memories, or remember who his friends were, what he'd had for lunch or who was president. He lived this way for 55 years, dying in 2008 at age 82.
Because of his unique condition, Molaison served as the subject of a number of studies, becoming widely known in the neurological community as patient "H.M."
SECOND STORY
What happened? The removal of Molaison's medial temporal lobes, located above the ears, left him with the rare disorder of complete anterograde amnesia. As a result of this condition, Molaison was completely unable to form any new memories. Molaison could retain old memories and remember the ones he'd formed throughout his life up until the surgery that took place in his 20s. He was also capable of forming procedural memories, or habits. However, he couldn't form new declarative memories, or remember who his friends were, what he'd had for lunch or who was president. He lived this way for 55 years, dying in 2008 at age 82.
Because of his unique condition, Molaison served as the subject of a number of studies, becoming widely known in the neurological community as patient "H.M."
SECOND STORY
It was pretty lucky that Sam Esquibel's mom put off having labor induced when she neared her delivery date. If she hadn't, she may not have been given the last ultrasound that revealed the large tumor growing in her son's brain. Three days after Sam was delivered, he underwent brain surgery to explore and remove the growth.
When surgeons reached the tumor and cut it open, they were astonished to see a tiny foot pop out of the incision. Yes, you read that correctly; Sam Esquibel's brain had grown a small, normally developed foot. Two diagnoses quickly emerged, teratoma or fetus in fetu. The former is an uncommon type of tumor where recognizable growths like hair, teeth, skin and nails develop within a tumor. The latter, which means "fetus in fetus", is an even rarer condition (less than 10 reported cases in the brain) where one twin absorbs the other in the womb.
When surgeons reached the tumor and cut it open, they were astonished to see a tiny foot pop out of the incision. Yes, you read that correctly; Sam Esquibel's brain had grown a small, normally developed foot. Two diagnoses quickly emerged, teratoma or fetus in fetu. The former is an uncommon type of tumor where recognizable growths like hair, teeth, skin and nails develop within a tumor. The latter, which means "fetus in fetus", is an even rarer condition (less than 10 reported cases in the brain) where one twin absorbs the other in the womb.
The absorbed twin becomes parasitic, eventually killing the twin that absorbed it.
After exploring more deeply in the tumor, surgeons at Memorial Children's Hospital in Colorado determined that the growth was indeed the result of fetus in fetu. In addition to the foot, they discovered a thigh, hand and intestine.
After exploring more deeply in the tumor, surgeons at Memorial Children's Hospital in Colorado determined that the growth was indeed the result of fetus in fetu. In addition to the foot, they discovered a thigh, hand and intestine.
Surgeons successfully removed the tumor and Sam Esquibel is alive and well.
THIRD STORY
THIRD STORY
A 10-year-old German girl's perfect vision baffled doctors - because she was born with only the left hemisphere of her brain. Humans with both hemispheres see because visual information delivered by the optic nerves cross over to the opposite hemisphere for processing and storage. So, one brain hemisphere should mean that only one eye works; in the girl's case, only her right eye should work.
Yet, the girl enjoys normal, binocular vision and in 2010, doctors scanned her brain to determine why. It turned out that through a process called plasticity, the optic nerve from her left eye had migrated to her left hemisphere; in other words, the left side of the girl's brain was accepting visual information from both eyes.
Astoundingly, the visual cortex on her left hemisphere had developed areas set aside for processing information from the left eye, which avoided confusion.
===============================================================
Comments