brain tougher customer than first thought

[Chaigidel]

http://skirmisher.org/strange-humans...-brain-at-all/


interesting he survives with almost no brain :O thoughts?

[Thanatos]

Interesting. I'm not sure what else to say.

[Chaigidel]

well they dont think he should be alive or even functioning-- he is essentially living a normal life with only 20 percent of his original brain. the rest is a fluid filled sac, his entire prefrontal cortex is stretched around that sac.


the tenacity of life is inspiring, and it does show hope for people with brain damage, showing if not proving that the brain has some inborn ability to repair and rewire itself.

[Thanatos]

Well, haven't scientists been saying for years that we only use like 10% of our brain or something?

[Rhinosaur]

Well, haven't scientists been saying for years that we only use like 10% of our brain or something?

I think we only use about 10% at a time.

That's the craziest thing I've heard about in a while. The guy is brainless! What a strange world.

[Chaigidel]

well thats actually a myth :O -- you see our entire brain is used in all the things you do -- hormone regulation, chemical dispensation, heat regulation, etc etc etc -- your various senses memory etc definitely use all your brain.

the 10 percent of the brain thing is a complete myth you use every part of your brain

[Thanatos]

well thats actually a myth :O -- you see our entire brain is used in all the things you do -- hormone regulation, chemical dispensation, heat regulation, etc etc etc -- your various senses memory etc definitely use all your brain.

the 10 percent of the brain thing is a complete myth you use every part of your brain

That's exactly what I thought. I never believed the scientists. The thread got me thinking back to that, however...

Who knows? Life is amazingly complex. Who knows what secrets and mysteries are still hidden away, waiting to be discovered by scientists?

[Chaigidel]

the fact he has maintained a normal life is the truly amazing thing, the flesh is not weak

but yeah rhino probably has the right idea you probably dont have a heavy amount of activity in only 10 percent of your total energy output so to speak, thats probably where the myth originated because your brain does produce a current of a decent force.

[Thanatos]

So if I shot him in the head, he would have a much higher chance of surviving?

[Chaigidel]

see I think his brain matter is actually a thin film along the inside of his skull :O i think any damage to that membrane would cause a problem, including the emptying of his fluid sac.

< not doctor but it seems likely.

[Thanatos]

I wonder what kind of fluid that is... Or is just an overflow production of the same fluid that's in everyone's brain?

[Chaigidel]

probably spinal fluid -- or lymph ? im not really sure but spinal fluid seems likely

[Thanatos]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymph_system

But it doesn't go all the way into the head...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_fluid

Yes, I agree, this seems much more likely.

[Zodiac]

This reminds me of some civilizations that thought some head-shape was attractive so they put something on their heads as infants as to force the skull to grow a certain way. It seems the brain is not as delicate as we assumed, also it looks as if the Man's brain is smushed up all along the side of the skull.

[STReetSamurai]

I see plenty of people that walk around that I know have no brain, nothing impressive here.

[Simetrical]

It's long been known that those who lose most of their brains can adapt and still perform pretty much normally, especially if they lose it when they're very young. it was mentioned in my introductory psychology course.

Well, haven't scientists been saying for years that we only use like 10% of our brain or something?

They've never said that. snopes has a page on it.

see I think his brain matter is actually a thin film along the inside of his skull :O i think any damage to that membrane would cause a problem, including the emptying of his fluid sac.

The gray matter is a thin layer on top of the white matter (not alongside the inside of your skull). Gray matter does the actual processing, white matter is more connective, roughly, or so I recall. You do need both to function, and some serious brain diseases are caused by damage to or degeneration of white matter, not gray matter: multiple sclerosis results from the loss of myelin sheaths in white matter.

The thing about the brain is, it's pretty powerful and very adaptable. Presumably having only 20% of your natural allotment of gray matter is non-optimal, but the brain adapts. Likewise the visual cortices of blind people get used for other things, and so on. Neural networks are inherently very flexible, I guess, in the way they're set up and develop.

[Chaigidel]

pointing to the fact that people could actually recover from major brain damage, if the brain can obviously repair and restructure itself in this manner. :O

[The Fish]

Brain plasticity is highly dependent upon age. Reading the original article, it appears this man had a corrected hydrocephalus as an infant. Children have an astonishing ability to recover from major brain tissue loss; in fact, kids with intractable seizures often have a procedure known as a hemispherectomy, where one half of the brain is surgically removed, and are still able to function at an acceptable level. So this man's case is really just an exceptional example of a known reality.

In contrast, older people have a very limited ability to recover from brain injury. Relatively small brain infarctions from strokes or other vascular abnormalities can be debilitating or even fatal.

[Chaigidel]

thats very true :O

[issues]

Very interesting, never thought it would be possible.

Maybe they should check the rest of the French population, it could be a major breakthrough and could explain a lot of things!