Can You Live With Half A Brain? | Earth Science

Does the size of your brain reflect your own intelligence? Greg Foot explains whether or not you can live with half a brain. Let us know your brainy thoughts in the comments below!

Footnotes:

[siddharthsharmaBelieve]

Is this a question ? Above 90% of the people do live with half of their brain .

[johnoneil]

You can live with half a brain quite literally. Look at people who have had hemispherectomies. I know someone that has had one and after the surgery they were basically unchanged except for some difficulty moving one side of there body.

[ButterCupMMXXIII]

I'm always changing my mind, as I find I'm often divided on many ideas...Seriously, I had a head injury to my right temple when a steel door hit my head between my eye and ear; the force knocked me down. The pain is triggered each time I think about it. I did become a lot more thoughtful afterwards, philosophical, but less socially inclined. I lost weight in a good way, but the social thing wasn't the best as I soon decided to separate from my partner and this led to many other relationship challenges, all of which destabilized me. The stress of being financially stripped caused my health to break down and soon after was in a life threatening illness which I survived but just.Overall I would say that the hit to my head was the beginning of my downfall - literally and figuratively - I would not recommend it to anyone.

[Razvy]

My brain also changed while watching this video. Few thousands of new synaptic connections were made between my neurons

[ptroinks]

That tamping iron didn't exit the back of Phineas Gage's head. It went straight up from the ground, entered through his left jaw, went through his brain, and exited the top of his skull. He also didn't lose half of his brain. It would have been more interesting if you had mentioned cases of hemispherectomies, where the entire left or right side of a patient's brain is removed surgically. It's also very fascinating how the brain adapts to severe brain injuries and how other parts of the brain start taking over from the parts that were lost or destroyed.

[JenoSnetrem]

Quality video as always :)
As you mentioned in passing, some people I deal with on a daily basis surely are missing (parts of) their brain. But as far as mine goes, of course it gets rewired when new information is entered into it. And over time as well, like your tastes change etc... It's such a complicated field but always interesting to learn more about it.

Also - first ^.^

[AbbeyB]

There was a case of a little girl who really did have half of her brain removed to stop life threatening seizures and she's doing just fine without it

[mdbxigw]

Great video series! Can you please change the blue background though? It hurts my eyes!

[christiansmith]

I remember learning about the young woman in China in my AP Psychology class. I loved that class. One of the best classes I've ever taken.

[elpiel]

Great work guys, there is no problem with the light anymore :)

[navtium]

What about that guy who had a hole in his brain? Or rather his brain only had a thin outer lair while the insides were filled with fluid.

[noahdingess]

My brain's constantly changing, I'm a teenager! Lucky me, and it's changing a lot too because I'm learning to use my left hand! Brain is changing nicely.

[amreladawy]

"It seems what you do with it is more important than how big it is"
sounds so familiar !

[KTheStruggler]

So basically what you're saying is I should blow out chunks of my brain before I start cramming for finals so it will be more malleable?

Thanks BritLab!

[ilanmichaeli]

man, my brain has changed drastically after drinking the famous "San Pedro" cactus.. felt like i discovered a new universe in and outside my brain. sure somethings happened, for good and bad.. overall i'm happy about it :)

[cavv]

2:00 That's a Lobotomy and yes, it will affect a human's mental capabilities!!! Between regeneration and the ability to rewire, add now neural connections, itself; the brain can heal... the severity of trauma plays a role, but it is possible to reclaim many functions/capabilities. However, heavy damage will lead to the loss of previous pathways; meaning that a person will "change"... after all, new neural pathways aren't the same pathways... just like repaving a road. As our body regenerates some pathways are lost and can not be reclaimed... memories fade... not everything is like a bicycle.

[chronicallyfabulous]

A friend of mine, whom I would confidently describe as a genius, was born without a cerebellum. She's a human genetics major =] She does have some difficulty with processing info (eg. writing what she's thinking or understanding complex written questions), but that's about it.

[YodaOnDMT]

I think many years of drug and alcohol abuse through depression have ruined my once amazing brain that taught itself to program and finished the majority of school aged 10... is now in ruins and can barely manage simple arithmetic.

[louieis]

my brain def. rewired when i started exercising. i felt happier. but when i stop exercising i seem to be a bit depressed.

[Lexyvil]

Interesting!
I should live a healthier lifestyle now and contribute in researching more about the brain~