Articles about people who have undergone brain surgeries or suffered brain injuries are always fascinating. They are a sort of counterbalance to all the studies about how scientists have located the places for this, that, or the other in the brain.
When a piece of the brain is removed these stories tell of a variety of unpredictable results. The neurological brain maps don’t yet allow surgeons and doctors to predict how injuries or surgeries to different parts of the brain will affect a person’s life.
Today the front page of the NY Times has an excellent article on a woman who has become quite the long distance runner after surgery for epilepsy.
She used to run away from epileptic seizures. Since brain surgery, she just runs, uninhibited by the drudgery of time and distance, undeterred by an inability to remember exactly where she is going or how to get back.
“It used to be, call for help if Mom’s not back in five hours,” Van Deren said. She laughed. “That rule has been stretched. I’ve got a 24-hour window now. . . .”
