Four years ago , doctors made the daring decision to take out a sixth of a 6 - year - honest-to-god son ’s brain in the hopes of curb his violent seizures . The son – bed as “ UD ” – is now gratis of seizure . But perhaps even more improbably , his surgery has highlighted the truly remarkable capability hidden inside the human brain .
A new study , published in the journalCell Reports , has document the son ’s retrieval and his young life with five - sixth of a brain . Three years after the surgery , he is still ineffectual to see on his left-hand side . However , despite missing vital parts of his ocular processing organisation , he can perform the ocular tasks normally carried out by the missing lobe in the good hemisphere , such as recognizing faces and objects .
It look that UD ’s mastermind has accounted for the missing lobes andmanaged to " rewire " itself .
“ These determination render a detailed depiction of the visual organization ’s plasticity during small fry ’s brainpower growing , " study generator Marlene Behrmann , professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University , say in astatement . “They also disgorge light on the optic system of the cerebral mantle and can potentially help neurologists and neurosurgeon understand the kind of changes that are potential in the brain . "
The research worker used fMRI mind scans to track his progress and evaluate how he do complex visual functions , such as processing faces , objects , and words . Much to their surprise , UD ’s left hemisphere appeared to carry the workload of both hemispheres . Furthermore , his I.Q. has rest above average and his oral communication and optic - perception skills are bit - on for a kid his age .
However , other low - order function were ineffective to reclaim , result him unable to litigate visual data come in from his left-hand side .
“ The only shortfall is that he can not see the intact visual field . When he is looking forward , visual information fall on the left side of the input is not processed , but he could still compensate for this by turning his head or affect his eyes , ” Behrmann said .
Although lobectomy procedures are rarefied , the researchers on this undertaking contend that UD ’s unbelievable recuperation could open up the door to more neural routine with further inquiry .
“ More needs to be done to realize which lobectomy patients will show recovery , which will not and why not , ” she said .
Besides that , this work is another unbelievable video display of how brawny and adaptable the human psyche really is .
