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Module 1.4c The Brain: Damage Response
INTRODUCE THE MODULE
Make It Meaningful and Brain Hemispheres
(10 minutes) The myth that some
people are “right-brained” while LEARNING TARGETS
others are “left-brained” is still 1.4-8 Explain how a damaged brain can reorganize itself, and describe neurogenesis.
prevalent in popular media. Ask 1.4-9 Explain what split brains reveal about the functions of our two brain
students if they have heard this hemispheres.
information presented as fact
before and, if so, where and
how. Use their responses to Responses to Damage
introduce what they will learn in
1.4-8 To what extent can a damaged brain reorganize itself, and what is
this module: Although the brain 1.4-8 T o what extent can a damaged brain r eorganize itself, and what is
neurogenesis?
has hemispheric specialization, the neurogenesis?
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
brain acts as a whole. Earlier, we learned about neuroplasticity — how our brain adapts to new situations. What
happens when we experience mishaps, large and small? Let’s explore the brain’s ability to
modify itself after damage.
Most brain-damage effects described earlier can be traced to two hard facts: (1) Severed
brain and spinal cord neurons, unlike cut skin, usually do not regenerate. (If your spinal cord
seem preassigned to specific areas. One newborn who suffered damage to a temporal lobe
INTRODUCE THE MODULE were severed, you would probably be permanently paralyzed.) And (2) some brain functions
area responsible for facial recognition was never able to recognize faces ( Farah et al., 2000 ).
Activate Prior Knowledge But there is good news: Some neural tissue can reorganize in response to damage.
Neuroplasticity may also occur after serious damage, especially in young children
(10 minutes) Begin class with whose undamaged hemisphere develops extra connections (Lindenberger & Lövdén, 2019;
see also Figure 1.4-18 ). The brain’s plasticity is good news for those with vision or hearing
this activity, which asks students by putting other areas to Freeman & Worth Publishers.
to decide if statements are Figure 1.4-18
true or false. The statements Brain work is child’s play
tap into common beliefs and This 6-year-old child had surgery
to end her life-threatening
misconceptions about psychology. seizures. Although most of her
This activity will benefit students’ right hemisphere was removed
(see the MRI of a similar
understanding of Module 1.4c as hemispherectomy), her remaining
hemisphere compensated
Copyright © Bedford, Living Art Enterprises, LLC/Science Source Joe McNally/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
they read. work. Reflecting on their child
M1.4c: Fact or hemispherectomies, one Johns
Hopkins team reported being
Falsehood? “awed” by how well the children
had retained their memory,
personality, and humor (Vining
et al., 1997). The younger the
child, the greater the chance that
the remaining hemisphere can
take over the functions of the one
that was surgically removed.
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