I’ve been watching Grey’s Anatomy (I know) and I’m curious- I know that you have to move around the ‘important parts’ to access a tumor if you’re able to even operate at all. But, how is any part of the brain ‘not important’? Meaning, how are surgeons able to touch and manipulate parts of the brain without it 1) turning into mush 2) being damaged and affected permanently ? Thank you and sorry if this is a dumb question, Grey’s has me real into this.
In: Biology
I’m under the impression that the brain is so soft that, as long as you treat it gently, is extremely hard to damage. Like massaging Jello.
This is because I underwent Deep Brain Stimulation 7-8 years ago to help control my Dystonia. Dystonia is basically where your brain sends too many instructions to certain muscle groups, but how it differs from Essential Tremor or Parkinsons…
Even Mayo Clinic doesn’t know WHY it works, just that it does(I had asked how introducing MORE electricity into an already overactive brain wouldn’t adversely affect things, like memory). DBS is a battery in the chest area programed to send a certain degree of voltage through an underskin wire into electrodes implanted in the brain. It has GREATLY improved my Quality of Life, but it was a bit scary.
Even more scary is that there was a news story maybe a year before my surgery about a world class musician who underwent DBS for his Essential Tremor. I was ‘lucky’ enough that my torso movement made it too dangerous to be awake for the surgery. He was put lightly under, bolted into a halo, then awoken so they could place the electrodes and get feedback on how much it was helping contain his movement. That’s the NORMAL surgical procedure. brr
Edit: They want to keep you awake and get your feedback so they can reposition the electrodes to provide the most benefit.
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