The celebrated case of Mr. Gage in the world of Psychology goes to prove something about the brain’s plasticity. This gentleman was working on railroad construction when an explosion propelled an iron bar through the front of his brain. He was still able to speak and understand language against the perceived wisdom of phrenology at that time. His behaviour changed for the worse, but his medical history is now famous.
Oliver Sachs wrote a brilliant anthology of cases involving brain abnormalities and injuries called “The man who mistook his wife for a hat”. These cases reveal how although certain areas of the brain are associated with specific functions when an area of the brain has been damaged by injury or disease, other parts of the brain can pitch in to do the work.
Brain plasticity is miraculous stuff.
odespinner 