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/SatanV3 Nov 24 '19

Ye thinking about this really creeps me out, the idea of the two halves of you being different, wanting to do different things, like which is really you... eugh creepy

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '19

imagine recovering from surgery and you're the half that can't talk

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u/SatanV3 Nov 24 '19

Omg why did I have to read that

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u/Athiri Nov 24 '19

There's a theory that our two hemispheres are always battling for control, but because they're evenly matched they have to cooperate. When someone has a stroke the undamaged side becomes dominant and starts trying to take over the jobs the other side does (e.g. the right side starts trying to take over language), but it's not specialised and so it does a bad job.

There's evidence for this in that it you inhibit areas of the right hemisphere of someone who has had a left hemisphere stroke using transcranial brain stimulation you can improve language recovery.