Man with tiny brain shocks doctors

[ajna]

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12301

Man with tiny brain shocks doctors

* 12:17 20 July 2007

* NewScientist.com news service

* New Scientist and Reuters

A man with an unusually tiny brain manages to live an entirely normal life despite his condition, which was caused by a fluid build-up in his skull.

Scans of the 44-year-old man's brain showed that a huge fluid-filled chamber called a ventricle took up most of the room in his skull, leaving little more than a thin sheet of actual brain tissue (see image, right).

“It is hard for me [to say] exactly the percentage of reduction of the brain, since we did not use software to measure its volume. But visually, it is more than a 50% to 75% reduction,” says Lionel Feuillet, a neurologist at the Mediterranean University in Marseille, France.

Feuillet and his colleagues describe the case of this patient in The Lancet. He is a married father of two children, and works as a civil servant.

Not retarded

The man went to a hospital after he had mild weakness in his left leg. When Feuillet's staff took his medical history, they learned that, as an infant, he had had a shunt inserted into his head to drain away hydrocephalus – water on the brain.

The shunt was removed when he was 14. But the researchers decided to check the condition of his brain using computed tomography (CT) scanning technology and another type of scan called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They were astonished to see "massive enlargement" of the lateral ventricles – usually tiny chambers that hold the cerebrospinal fluid that cushions the brain.

Intelligence tests showed the man had an IQ of 75, below the average score of 100 but not considered mentally retarded or disabled.

"The whole brain was reduced – frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes – on both left and right sides. These regions control motion, sensibility, language, vision, audition, and emotional and cognitive functions," Feuillet told New Scientist.

Brain adaptation

The findings reveal "the brain is very plastic and can adapt to some brain damage occurring in the pre- and postnatal period when treated appropriately," he says.

"What I find amazing to this day is how the brain can deal with something which you think should not be compatible with life," comments Max Muenke, a paediatric brain defect specialist at the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, US.

"If something happens very slowly over quite some time, maybe over decades, the different parts of the brain take up functions that would normally be done by the part that is pushed to the side," adds Muenke, who was not involved in the case.

Journal reference: The Lancet (vol 370, p 262)

[Vertmorpheus]

44? Got that wrong, I only just turned 26

[ajna]

this reminded me of a similar case on a show about heart transplants, they were discussing how theyve actually found brain neuron networks in the heart tissue and concluded the brain is not the only control centre. (gives new light to "listen to your heart" doesnt it?)

anyway they were discussing one case where a man had been found to have absolutely no brain at all, yet he functioned perfectly normal. my initial reaction was "why the hell isn't this front page news then?", but havent found any info on it since and was wondering if it actually took place... interesting stuff nonetheless

[ThunderIdeal]

the no-brain story might have been an internet tabloid. i really do find that one hard to believe.

secondary brains though... there is a reasonably large nerve ganglia in or around the gut somewhere which i remember reading about.

[ajna]

yeah unbelievable i agree, does seem it's not completely unheard of though, atleast in the case of very little brain matter.

here's another case i just came across:

http://www.alternativescience.com/no_brainer.htm

Is your brain you really necessary? The reason for my apparently absurd question is the remarkable research conducted at the University of Sheffield by neurology professor the late Dr. John Lorber.

When Sheffield’s campus doctor was treating one of the mathematics students for a minor ailment, he noticed that the student’s head was a little larger than normal. The doctor referred the student to professor Lorber for further examination.

The student in question was academically bright, had a reported IQ of 126 and was expected to graduate. When he was examined by CAT-scan, however, Lorber discovered that he had virtually no brain at all.

Instead of two hemispheres filling the cranial cavity, some 4.5 centimetres deep, the student had less than 1 millimetre of cerebral tissue covering the top of his spinal column. The student was suffering from hydrocephalus, the condition in which the cerebrospinal fluid, instead of circulating around the brain and entering the bloodstream, becomes dammed up inside.

[ThunderIdeal]

ok... for me that gives pretty strong credence to the notion that our brains are not so much our minds as they are antennae for our minds.

[devance]

In the U.S. such a statement is a hate crime.

Small or no brained humanoids are protected as long as they make from birth.

[botanika]

Id like to know more about the hearts neuro activity too. Heard some interesting stories about transplant patients taking on memories and behaviours of the previous owner. And if our heart has that going on what about our loins?

[botanika]

Id like to know more about the hearts neuro activity too. Heard some interesting stories about transplant patients taking on memories and behaviours of the previous owner. And if our heart has that going on what about our loins?

[devance]

Well in England they are trying to pass a law where its automatic havesting of organs for sudden trauma cases.

Socialism in a ugly form..

[Vertmorpheus]

Someone I know has had a lot of work done on their heart, and reports that every time he wakes up with some fresh zipper work to show off, he feels more and more "off to one side" of himself, describes it as living with a layer of gladwrap. This effect does not seem to vary according to level of beta blockers etc used. A benign sense of otherliness apparently.

The heart does not like to be touched, during surgery (so I am told, no heart surgeon here). Tends to stimulate release of various override muscular paralyisis-reject all additives and additions-drop dead kinds of chemicals and agents.

Interesting stuff with transplants though, like old mate with his sudden liking for fried chicken. The old line "if you cut your head off and put it on another body, is it a head transplant, or a body transplant?". There are people that basically lose on hemisphere and the other one can retrain to take on a lot of its old duties, strange stuff.

as for compulsory organ harvesting, thats an interesting and very deep question to ponder! I've heard a very bad man who recently self-exterminated in NW Bris and ended up with quite a few bits n pieces missing in short order once he got to hospital. Small world and getting smaller eh?

My heart goes out to you all... just wait til I'm finished with it!

VM

[devance]

http://rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=ht...rss%26feed%3D11

'I am not advocating genocide,' said Rapley. 'What I am saying is that if we invest in ways to reduce the birthrate - by improving contraception, education and healthcare - we will stop the world's population reaching its current estimated limit of between eight and 10 billion.'

------------------------------------------

The birth rate birth for no brainers would go up for organ transpants.

Might as breed them.

But organ tranplants needs preservation of the organ.

Perhaps the military can supply such for the political elites.

So for England they won't have to kiss the feet of the aristicracy but actually provide organs.

[simon_marklar]

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heart.htm

The Egyptians believed that the heart, rather than the brain, was the source of human wisdom, as well as emotions, memory, the soul and the personality itself. Notions of physiology and disease were all connected in concept to the heart, and it was through the heart that God spoke, giving ancient Egyptians knowledge of God and God's will. For this reason it was considered the most important of the body's organs. However, despite the ancient Egyptian's seemingly advanced medical and surgical knowledge, the heart's role in blood circulation was not precisely understood.

I have a friend who had a tumour that was 3/4 the size of her head pushing her brain into one corner. she was smart as, both before and after surgery.

[XipeTotec]

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heart.htm

I have a friend who had a tumour that was 3/4 the size of her head pushing her brain into one corner. she was smart as, both before and after surgery.

maybe it made her smart, like in the john travolta movie

Edited July 25, 2007 by XipeTotec

[devance]

As a scientalist he would never made the Movie if know the failure.

Alot of actors have done cross dressing and its was never a success.

A brain tumor is not of a problem as cancer.

[XipeTotec]

As a scientalist he would never made the Movie if know the failure.

Alot of actors have done cross dressing and its was never a success.

A brain tumor is not of a problem as cancer.

im not sure what u r saying... there seems to be missing words... unless its a brain tumour joke?

[simon_marklar]

im not sure what u r saying... there seems to be missing words... unless its a brain tumour joke?

All cancers are (malignant) tumours but not all tumours are cancer. But in the case i was referring to, it was a malignant tumour

[devance]

I not medical expert on tumors or cancer.

But am I sure sure that medical science will be able to one day easyly done so.

As long as there medical people around, not destroyed in a nuke war or any other type.

Just like discovery antibiotics.

A puzzle that can be solved.

If no educated people are around and the environment gets stressed out how think so at left as survival.

Most brainy people won't be able to it a sudden problem without electricity.

Thugs and the politicals.

They won't survive but nothing else will either.

[XipeTotec]

All cancers are (malignant) tumours but not all tumours are cancer. But in the case i was referring to, it was a malignant tumour

im aware of this... its just devance's spiel was a bit broken

[devance]

'http://rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworldlatest%2Fstory%2F0%2C%2C-6803222%2C00.html

' NY Panhandlers Get Class-Action Status

Wednesday July 25, 2007 3:31 AM

By LARRY NEUMEISTER

Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - A federal judge on Tuesday granted class-action status to thousands of suspected panhandlers arrested or forced off streets over the past 15 years by police who used a law that was declared unconstitutional.

In a ruling critical of'

[botanika]

...its just devance's spiel was a bit broken

Maybe not broken...perhaps Devance is using his heart to communicate more than his brain...his words are like beats.

For nearly half a century Joseph Chilton Pearce, who prefers to be known simply as Joe, has been probing the mysteries of the human mind. Author of The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg, Magical Child, Magical Child Matures, Bond of Power and Evolution's End, one of his overriding passions remains the study of what he calls the "unfolding" of intelligence in children. He is a self-avowed iconoclast, unafraid to speak out against the myriad ways in which contemporary American culture fails to nurture the intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs and yearnings of our young people.

Chris:

Modern neuroscience has been making some startling discoveries about the human heart. Can you tell us a bit about them in layman's terms?

Joe:

The idea that we can think with our hearts is no longer just a metaphor, but is, in fact, a very real phenomenon. We now know this because the combined research of two or three fields is proving that the heart is the major center of intelligence in human beings. Molecular biologists have discovered that the heart is the body's most important endocrine gland. In response to our experience of the world, it produces and releases a major hormone, ANF -- which stands for Atriol Neuriatic Factor -- that profoundly effects every operation in the limbic structure, or what we refer to as the "emotional brain." This includes the hippocampal area where memory and learning take place, and also the control centers for the entire hormonal system. And neurocardiologist have found that 60 to 65% of the cells of the heart are actually neural cells, not muscle cells as was previously believed. They are identical to the neural cells in the brain, operating through the same connecting links called ganglia, with the same axonal anddendritic connections that take place in the brain, as well as through the very same kinds of neurotransmitters found in the brain.

Quite literally, in other words, there is a "brain" in the heart, whose ganglia are linked to every major organ in the body, to the entire muscle spindle system that uniquely enables humans to express their emotions. About half of the heart's neural cells are involved in translating information sent to it from all over the body so that it can keep the body working as one harmonious whole. And the other half make up a very large, unmediated neural connection with the emotional brain in our head and carry on a twenty-four-hour-a-day dialogue between the heart and the brain that we are not even aware of.

Kim:

How does that work?

Joe:

The heart responds to messages sent to it from the emotional brain, which has been busy monitoring the interior environment of dynamic states such as the emotions and the auto-immune system, guiding behavior, and contributing to our sense of personal identity. The emotional brain makes a qualitative evaluation of our experience of this world and sends that information instant-by-instant down to the heart. In return, the heart exhorts the brain to make the appropriate response. Of course all of this is on the non-verbal level.

In other words, the responses that the heart makes effect the entire human system. Meanwhile, biophysicists have discovered that the heart is also a very powerful electromagnetic generator. It creates an electromagnetic field that encompasses the body and extends out anywhere from eight to twelve feet away from it. It is so powerful that you can take an electrocardiogram reading from as far as three feet away from the body.

The field the heart produces is holographic, meaning that you can read it from any point on the body and from any point within the field. No matter how microscopic the sample is, you can receive the information of the entire field. The intriguing thing is how profoundly this electromagnetic field effects the brain. All indications are that it furnishes the whole radio wave spectrum from which the brain draws its material to create our internal experience of the world.

Perhaps most importantly, we now know that the radio spectrum of the heart is profoundly affected by our emotional response to our world. Our emotional response changes the heart's electromagnetic spectrum, which is what the brain feeds on. Ultimately, everything in our lives hinges on our emotional response to specific events.'

http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/JCP99.html

Interesting... so who's the boss? The heart or brain?

Edited July 25, 2007 by botanika

[devance]

I wish my words where beats of a heart..

Mines Rheumatic fever a old term for heart valve damage.

When six I went to puerto rico where I was bitten by misquitos and one carried a Staph or

streph strain.

(9 months in the hospital and perminant heart valve damage where I could never do physical labor.

But I not very clear.

I only post when optimistic which isn't easy and that takes alcohol.

But thanks, not easy to guess about my situation so I don't like to describe it as it's not guessable.

But I like females and know so and I not a alpha male that even cares to compete.