Neuroscience History: Lobotomies and Phrenology

Lobotomies were always something that I was curious about after reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

Lobotomies were a procedure that was used infrequently in the 1940's and 50's.  The surgery was used to treat mentally ill patients by altering their mental state.  This was done by creating an incision in the prefrontal lobe of the brain.  To a neuroscientist that would mean a lot, but many do not know the severity of cutting into the prefrontal cortex.  The prefrontal cortex is responsible for many important functions of the brain which include behavioral development, complex behaviors, and planning.  In other words this part of your brain really affects your behaviors and personality as an individual.  These surgeries cured people by altering their cognitive behavior, but what they really did was render the patient cognitively vacuous.  Overall the surgery was depicted accurately in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Phrenology has always been a subject that interested me since there is a phrenology head in my home.  Phrenology is "a defunct field of study, once considered a science, in which the personality traits of a person were determined by “reading” bumps and fissures in the skull (What Is Phrenology?)."  Phrenology was developed by physician Franz Joseph Gall around 1800, and was a very popular science in the 19th century.  Around 1843 is was called a pseudo science, or a fake science.  But it did have a big influence on Neuroscience.  "Phrenologists believed that the mind has a set of different mental faculties, with each particular faculty represented in a different area of the brain (What Is Phrenology?)." These areas were important in determining peoples mental capacity.  Phrenology is a very interesting aspect of Neuroscience history.

Works Cited

By Commenting You Acknowledge Acceptance of GoodTherapy.org's Terms and Conditions of Use. "Prefrontal Cortex." GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog. N.p., 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

"What Is Lobotomy? - Luria Neuroscience Institute." Luria Neuroscience Institute. N.p., 16 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

"What Is Phrenology?" Phrenology Lab. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

My Stroke of Insight

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor is "a brain scientist personal journal."  Jill Bolte Taylor is an American neuroanatomist who suffered a stroke in 1996.  She is a thirty-seven year old Harvard graduate who had a very personal experience with deterioration of her own brain.  Though many people experience such an unfortunate event, its a very eye opening experience when reading it from the point of view of someone who has studied the brain.  Currently I have not started the book, but I did buy it.  When reading this I will pay attention to how she writes compared to Oliver Sacks.  He wrote case studies, while she is writing a personal journal.  Some may wonder how life changing this experience was for Taylor; in which she would respond:

“How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career.”

Currently we are fortunate enough to have her still with us, unlike Oliver Sacks, here you can see her Ted Talk:

https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight

This book will help reveal the terminology and writing style behind Neuroscience literature.

The Case of the Colorblind Painter [An Anthropologist on Mars part 2]

As addressed in an earlier post, Oliver Sacks, a Neuroscientist, writes in a particular style.  Case studies.  The Case of the Colorblind Painter is an example of a case study done by him in his book An Anthropologist on Mars.  So this case study will follow the themes he wrote about in the beginning of his book, adaptation.  The story is very interesting, it is about a painter who went colorblind in an accident and how he adapts to the inevitable changes that come his way.  But what is really important for me is trying to understand how Oliver Sacks formatted his case study, and what type of writing style he used while writing it.

Note: written in first person

The beginning of the case study was a letter, written by the colorblind painter asking for help.  It is important to note that Oliver Sack did not address his actual name, instead he was called Mr. I.  Then Sack goes and describes what he initially believes the painter to be struggling from.  Despite using medical terminology he does this in a way that the everyday person could understand.  In fact it is very easy to read, its not just fact after fact.  It has a nice flow to it that is used in descriptive writing.  Next he explains the impact of color.  Then he goes to meet the client.  Note that whenever he notices that the client says a symptom towards a certain disorder he puts it in parenthesis.  The person explains to Oliver Sack, this has more detail than the letter.  He explains how this condition affects his everyday life.  He then goes into a more emotional way of writing when he writes down how this condition makes Mr. I feel.  Obviously being a painter it really affected him negatively, and you can feel that through the writing.  Eventually there is an adaptation breakthrough as the painter learns how to still be an artist with this condition.  Sack then goes into past studies of people with similar symptoms to Mr. I.  He also explains Goethe's color theory and other studies that could relate to this case.  Sacks then went back to Mr. I and how it was a clear case of cerebral achromatopsia, and explained how his symptoms, and the symptoms for this disorder.  He found a solution to the prognosis but, it didn't eliminate the issue, it just made it more tolerable to live with.  Mr. I cam to terms with his condition after battling for such a long time, he has settled "neurologically and psychologically."  He was able to become a successful black and white painter.  Then Sacks summarizes all that he explained.  Overall it was an interesting read that I feel a lot of artist would enjoy.

Mr. I's vision:

Painting before the accident:

Painting 2 months after accident:

Painting 2 years later:

What is a Case Study?

Neuroscientist often write in the case study format.  But, what exactly is a case study.  After starting to read the first case study in Oliver Sack's book the general concept behind case studies is obvious.  A case study is when a doctor, sociologist, or someone similar to those studies a specific person dealing with an abnormality and trying to either, fix them, learn from them, or understand them.  A case study really helps the person conducting it gain insight on an individual, rather than a survey which get the general opinions of a group of people.  Case studies are therefor considered qualitative research because it does not use numeric data, its data is very in depth and needs to be analyzed.  Those who conduct a case study must be able to be very strong observers.  They need to not only ask questions, but observe the emotions and movements in the person as they answer.  They also must try to observe and study them in everyday life.  It is the job of the one conducting the study to understand what is going through the persons head, and how they think.  This is what makes it very interesting for Neuroscientist because they study the brain, so their interpretation of ones possible thoughts behind their actions may be more accurate than other scientist.  Using this information I will read a case study and learn the literature aspect behind it.

Work Cited

Sacks, Oliver. An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales. New York: Knopf, 1995. Print.

Reconstruction and Adaptation [An Anthropologist on Mars part 1]

Oliver Sacks is probably one of the most recognized Neurologist, unfortunately he died in 2015.  He didn't die without creating a legacy though now only his achievements, but the books he wrote.  One of these books is titles An Anthropologist on Mars.  This title really got me, why would an anthropologist me on mars?  How would they survive?  Well these are question I feel Oliver Sacks wants you to ask yourself.  In order to understand this more I read the preface to this book.  The book as a whole is comprised of a bunch of different case studies all with a similar theme.  What is this theme though?

Adaptation.

Oliver Sacks introduces his book with a story about himself.  He explains that as he is writing this book he is using his left hand, even though he is right handed.  This was because of an injury to his right shoulder.  He explains how this new lifestyle with a dominant left hand gets easier every day, but there was some learning curves.  Now Sacks walks differently, and developed different patterns to what he is used to, in a way he created a different identity.  He then explains that some adaptations are deliberate, while some are through trial and error, but most occur by themselves, unconsciously.

"Defects, disorders, diseases, in this sense can play a paradoxical role, by bringing out latent powers, developments, evolutions, forms of life, that might never be seen, or even be imaginable, in their absence.  It is the paradox of disease, in this sense, its "creative" potential, that forms the central theme of this book."  This quote is when I started to understand the title of that book.  The idea of an anthropologist on mars in almost a contradiction, but what creative ways can the brain problem solve this contradiction to make it work.  For example the preface explains that blind and deaf children achieve what other children can do in a different way.  They learn to see and hear without the standard ability to.  That is what the brain of the anthropologist must adapt to do.  They must learn to become an anthropologist on mars, they must adapt.

In this book we will discover stories of people with altered conditions, and how they made survival possible with them.  The power of reconstruction and adaptation is going to be an interesting one.  The brain is the most  "most incredible thing in the universe" for multiple reasons, and this book contains some of them.  Everyone creates their own world in their brains and their perception of reality is different depending on multiple factors.  That's why it's important to study everyone individually and try to understand their inner thoughts and world.  It is impossible to understand a person just on observation of behavior from the outside.  That is why each of these case studies are important to understanding the adaptation these people made based on their perceptions of reality.

As I proceed forward into the world of neuroscience literature I will be paying attention to how a neuroscientist writes and thinks.  The first story that I will read is called The Case of the Colorblind Painter.

Work Cited

Sacks, Oliver. An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales. New York: Knopf, 1995. Print.

Neuroscience Student Interview

Elizabeth Mooney, a second year neuroscience major in college, has been fascinated with the brain for years. Why? Well I conducted an interview with her so I could understand the concept of neuroscience more before going into intense literary research about the brain. What is neuroscience?

"Neuroscience is the study of the human brain, including neuroanatomy and brain physiology."

What made you want to study neuroscience?

"I wanted to study to neuroscience because the brain is the most complex and fascinating thing in the universe. It's something we all have but something no one fully understands."

What are some cool things about neuroscience?

"People think that they know the about it but misunderstand it, such as we only use 10 percent of our brains, false, the brain is broken up into parts and each part works almost all of the time. It never completely shuts off. Even blind people use the vision center of their brains, they "see" inside their minds. The brain can compensate for loss in one section by strengthening another. It's cool that so much happens at the same time without you being aware of it. Breathing, blinking, heart beating as well as movement. Imagine if you had to think about picking up a foot in order to walk. In fact you are commanding the action, it just happens so quickly that it's done before you know it. It's so devastating when there is a brain injury or disease because things taken for granted take longer. Taking a minute to move your arm is excruciating to experience. I hope to help people have better life if they suffer any brain function loss."

What are some of the most interesting parts of the brain?

"The most interesting part of the brain to me is the cerebellum, often called the little brain. It is at the back and bottom of the brain. It controls balance and coordination."

What are some important terms neurologist would know?

"Frontal lobe Temporal lobe Parietal lobe Occipital lobe Synapses (how the brain communicates between different parts)." After going through this interview it is obvious there is a lot of knowledge I must acquire in order to write like a neuroscience fanatic properly.