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
Not a dumb question. The probability is that there will be some damage depending on tumor location. They will have the person be awake during the surgery when poking the brain (there are no pain receptors in the brain itself) and test an area with a small electric current (I think) and ask what the patient is experiencing. The calculation is what damage is worth getting the tumor out.
Functions arent strictly localized like you see in cartoons or the movies. Some adaptation is possible. If it is a small area at the surface you may never notice anything missing (might have been signals anbout 1 cm on your rump) something deep and the surgeon may be roughly choosing between loss of some vision, some mobility, some sensory integration or some judgement.
The brain is a bit more flexible than we used to think and the consequences interact with our life situation. The same damage size and location in a person who is a seamstress/tailor who thinks spatially about how pieces fit and what relates to what vs a lawyer who has to speak correctly according to a set of verbal rules and think quickly about various options could have very different life effects. One may be devastated and the other barely notice.
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