How Does the Brain Work With Half of it Removed? Pretty Well, Actually

In a new study, scans of people who had a brain hemisphere removed as children show how the organ adapted.

By Alex Orlando
Nov 22, 2019 4:45 PMNov 25, 2019 9:41 PM
Hemispherectomy-Brain-Scan
A brain scan of an adult who had an entire hemisphere removed as a child to treat epilepsy. (Credit: Caltech Brain Imaging Center)

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In severe cases of epilepsy, a patient’s seizures can become so incessant, and other treatments so ineffective, that doctors will remove half of the brain during childhood to stop them. It's a procedure known as a hemispherectomy. Yet, incredibly, these patients still have intact motor, language and thinking skills.

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