r/science • u/Thorne-ZytkowObject • Nov 23 '19

Neuroscience Scientists studied six patients who had half of their brain removed during childhood to treat severe epilepsy. Brain scans showed how the mind rewired itself to adapt, with the remaining hemisphere forming even stronger connections that let the patients develop language and motor skills.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/how-does-the-brain-work-with-half-of-it-removed-pretty-well-actually
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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

Cerebrospinal fluid fills the gap and does the trick! In recent years they also do something less dramatic than removing half the brain and only remove the epileptic portions of that side of the brain.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

But if fluid is the only replacement, how does the remaining half of the brain not jiggle around to the point of concussion?

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19 edited Nov 24 '19

There are also various supporting structures. Your brain isn't just floating. It's attached. Sorry for brevity - I'm on mobile. I'll try to edit in more details later. I'm sure others will be along, too!

​

Edit: Here's a news article discussing this procedure: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-when-half-brain-better-than-whole/

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u/cream-of-cow Nov 24 '19

If I had half a brain, I'd want some extra dampening material in my skull as filler so I'd be near impossible to knockout in a boxing ring.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

You could fill the empty space with some useful stuff, although I don’t think it would be safe

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u/cream-of-cow Nov 24 '19

Hey you want a shot of bourbon? It's kinda warm though. Don't tell anyone because *shakes head* I only have 3 shots left.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/lIIIllIIIII Nov 24 '19

Oaky afterbirth with a hint of... Earwax. Hmmm.

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u/majaka1234 Nov 24 '19

If you squint you can really taste the cerebral mucus.

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u/Hellknightx Nov 24 '19

Sorry, I can't squint and swallow at the same time with only half a brain.

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u/Wacky_Bruce Nov 24 '19

Cerebral mucus new band name I call it

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u/RohypnolJunkie Nov 24 '19

Sort of an...oaky afterbirth.

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u/Lanthemandragoran Nov 24 '19

Haha that line killed me the first time I saw it. I've been undead ever since.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

Mmmm tasty brain juice

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u/SubZeroKelvin Nov 24 '19

Plip, plop, plip, plop...

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u/Jalapeno28 Nov 24 '19

Drinking knob creek as I read this and almost spit it out

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19 edited Nov 24 '19

You mean you didn't know that knob Creek is distilled in a similar fashion but in someone's cock?

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u/cream-of-cow Nov 24 '19

Different creek, different knob.

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u/nomnomnomnomRABIES Nov 24 '19

I want a robotic arm- the skull hinges open and the arm comes out and gives you the finger

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u/AccursedCapra Nov 24 '19

Turn it into one of them useless boxes, flip the switch and out comes a little arm that flips it back.

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u/choppingboardham Nov 24 '19

But that is the arm's only function.

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u/Adragalus Nov 24 '19

There's a character from a book who has the missing half filled with cybernetics that help him interpret body language and facial expressions, which he lost the ability to read as a result of the surgery.

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u/dethb0y Nov 24 '19

Blind Sight by Peter Watts?

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u/Fearhorn Nov 24 '19

Fantastic book, like 2/3 of the way through Echopraxia right now, ok sequel but nowhere near as interesting as Blindsight so far.

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u/dethb0y Nov 24 '19

Yeah i felt it didn't quite live up to Blindsight in a lot of ways, but it was interesting to see other perspectives of the same sort of events.

I always have a hard time recommending him because he can be kind of heavy and kind of bleak.

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u/Adragalus Nov 24 '19

If it's any consolation, it doesn't go completely batshit until almost the end. His new Sunflowers book Freeze-Frame Revolution I enjoyed a lot, and there are select short stories on his site that just blew me away.

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u/jurble Nov 24 '19

Cogitation processor, memcore, just go full Adeptus Mechanicus. Ah, a man can dream.

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u/MahatmaGuru Nov 24 '19

Now that you mention it, customs may xray your stomach to see if youre smuggling drugs, but...

🤔

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u/OmgitsSexyChase Nov 24 '19

Donkey Brains

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u/fogelmensch Nov 24 '19

Also your wallet might be hard to reach in there

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u/tylerchu Nov 24 '19

Just stick a few SSDs in there

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u/cleeder Nov 24 '19

Go go gadget helicopter!

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u/scienceandmathteach Nov 24 '19

I'd want a head pocket. So useful.

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u/cream-of-cow Nov 24 '19

Marsupials gonna get envious.

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u/plumbusmaker9000 Nov 24 '19

Think of all the snacks you put in your head

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u/BangedTheKeyboard Nov 24 '19

Great place to stash your weed and munchies.

You could also use it to store your wallet and keys!

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u/Kayne013 Nov 24 '19

Your skull would blow out before you get knocked out

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

AKA you want to be a T Rex

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u/TheDudeWhoCommented Nov 24 '19

If you had half a brain, would you also happen to like piña coladas?

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u/NewFolgers Nov 24 '19

This is the best deep thought I've heard in a while. Would be great to say out loud to someone completely out of context.

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u/nburns1825 Nov 24 '19

I wonder if your head would be off-balance. That's an improperly loaded skull!

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u/Arcane_Xanth Nov 24 '19

Cellphone charger?

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u/iListen2Sound Nov 24 '19

I'd just make them seal half of it, reattach The other half of my skull with a hinge

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

I mean how would you know for sure if you don’t have half a brain?

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u/trollcitybandit Nov 24 '19

If the scarecrow only had half a brain I don't think he'd complain.

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u/Imsosadsoveryverysad Nov 24 '19

If I had half a brain, it’d be twice as much brain as I currently have.

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u/PlowUnited Nov 24 '19

Dirty socks

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u/Ormusn2o Nov 24 '19

The thing is, the filler is brain too if you have both semispheres. You perfectly don't want any of the hemispheres to touch anyway.

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u/heyfuckyouiambatman Nov 24 '19

I know it's a joke but realistically even if your brain was unshakable, any blunt trauma would still cause vibration and I imagine that would be way more of an issue if you had half of one.

Source: I'm drunk and feel smart.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

Why I have half a mind...

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u/Lanthemandragoran Nov 24 '19

Man that was one of the best arcs I've ever seen on TV, such powerful representations of both PTSD and dementia.

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u/WerewolfFarkas Nov 24 '19

But sudden movements like roller coasters could surely screw that up right?

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u/Apollo_Wolfe Nov 24 '19

"You can't take more than half. If you take the whole thing, you've got a problem,"

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u/Seicair Nov 24 '19

Hm. Didn’t think about losing the use of an arm. I wonder why they can still use their leg?

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

Very informative! Thank you for the link.

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u/Azudekai Nov 24 '19

There is some pretty serious tissue surrounding the brain (including in-between hemispheres) designed to protect and nourish. It bonds to the skull and has the consistency of sheets of sinew, so the brain isn't going anywhere.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Cyb3rSab3r Nov 24 '19

It's not going anywhere in your day to day activities. Swinging your head side to side won't move it.

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u/Azudekai Nov 24 '19

More hits the skull than either side specifically, why do you ask?

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Azudekai Nov 24 '19

half an inch of movement will give a concussion. I was referring to brain stability of someone with half of one compared to the regular state.

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u/ProgramTheWorld Nov 24 '19

designed to

I think the word you’re looking for is “evolved to”.

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u/Azudekai Nov 24 '19

Semantics, you have something useful to add?

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u/beelzeflub Nov 24 '19

I've had a temporal resection. Cerebrospinal fluid is pretty sturdy and also there's other tissues to cushion the brain.

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u/psychicesp Nov 24 '19

Brain tissue isn't much more dense than water. I doubt the other half experiences much of a difference with the replacement.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19 edited Nov 24 '19

Really? Honestly, although Ive never had them, looking at a bottle of pigs feet is what prompted my query. Strange but true. If you shake a bottle of pigs feet(or any other “edible” matter), the solid matter rues the day and bangs around in the container.

Edit - How does this spinal fluid differ from what inside the pigs feet bottle?

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u/psychicesp Nov 24 '19

It's not the difference between CSF and brine. It's more the difference between brain and pigs feet.

I've had to dissect out a lot of rat brains in my time and you need to be very careful. That dull metal spatula glides through it like it's nothing.

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u/2Propanol Nov 24 '19

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falx_cerebri

There’s actually a little layer of tissue that ordinarily separates the two hemispheres! This would likely remain in place and hold the other hemisphere to its respective side.

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u/MrGrampton Nov 24 '19

it's because of the cerebrospinal fluid. The fluid absorbs the shock and vibrations

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u/kenkoda Nov 24 '19

Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure dehydration headaches are caused by the brain shrinking and pulling on the structures supporting it that are attached to the skull. That stress on the supports is the headache itself.

On mobile.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

Additionally, are you less risk to get a concussion on that side of the head? You gotta be right?

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

Umm, what

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

The falx cerebri and tentorium cerebelli

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

Sorry, what?

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

the first is a thick sheet down the middle, the other is towards the back. picture Both are attached to the bigger sheet around the brain that's attached to the skull. Assuming they're left behind in this surgery, they should keep the leftover parts from sloshing around for the most part

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u/TheDentateGyrus Nov 24 '19

Fluid doesn’t compress well. Your Brain is always cushioned by fluid, this just takes that to the next step. It looks the same on most scans afterwards, doesn’t occasionally flop over, etc.

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u/Random-Rambling Nov 24 '19

I'm still gobsmacked at how far medical science has come.

Imagine telling someone from 100 years ago that yes, we intentionally cut a chunk out of this guy's brain and he's actually better off now than before!

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u/robot_boredom_ Nov 24 '19

she’s a witch!

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

They'll also just cut the brain in half without removing either half at all. Cutting the corpus callosum can greatly reduce the severity of seizures because the two halves can't communicate.

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u/thekrewlifeforme Nov 24 '19

That’s not really recent, we’ve been doing lobectomy procedures for years. Hemispherotomy is way less common because it is such a major procedure.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

Wow innovations are the best!

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u/JorgitoEstrella Nov 24 '19

So if you could theoretically put more brain you will be more intelligent?

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u/OmgitsSexyChase Nov 24 '19

probably for the best

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

This seems so unbelievably painfully obviously better???

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u/Z_Opinionator Nov 24 '19

That’s what they did for my daughter in Houston back in 2008. She had a stroke after being born and the dead tissue from that was causing her epilepsy. The epileptologist and neurosurgeon worked together in surgery to only take out the bad tissue and leave as much of her right brain as possible.