How the Brain Works Part 4 (UCLA)

How the Brain Works
These brief videos provide an introductory appreciation of how we learn skills and information, move, think, feel, speak and remember. They are brought to you by the UCLA Brain Research Institute and by Bruce H. Dobkin, MD, who directs the neurorehabilitation program in the Department of Neurology at UCLA. The videos especially aim to reach out to students in grade school to stir their interest, and to people with disabilities in walking, using an affected upper extremity, and loss of memory from neurological diseases such as stroke, brain trauma, tumors, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Parkinsons, and Alzheimers disease.

Video 1:
General organization of a real human brain.

Video 2:
The pathology of brain injuries and diseases. Rat versus human brain complexity. How do we reach for a ball? How do we walk?

Video 3:
How does practice enable us to learn and retain skills and information?

Video 4:
How can we drive the nervous system to adapt in ways that help restore lost skills after injury from disease? Can we reorganize the brains connections?

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• rehabilitation
• stem cells

[drydust999]

Very interesting! Thanks for posting.

[msrrautela]

I watched all the four videos and know much more about the way the human brain functions.Thanks a lot,doc!

[Meredith7012]

if you took it out and still had function...how does this change mood or reaction? do they move or for example do they get more agitated etc?

[vickyfin6999]

Yes I remember this case..it was with a 2year old girl..that her one side of brain was removed and filled with some liquid..though she faced difficult in the hand functionality..But later her brain evolved to take control of the other side of functionality.

[lithylad]

thanks a lot... i will REMEMBER this info

[2000CivicHatch]

Thanks so much, doc! Watched all 4 parts (even though I only needed to watch the 1st part) and enjoyed every second!

[Thrashaero]

I think it's just the same as amputating a leg due to infection...drastic. Then again, it's different on the level that part of the brain is much more valuable than part of a leg...to me, anyway. Of course I'm not saying keep the malfunctioning section of brain for whatever value is guessed it may have, I'm saying that I think that severing that connection is probably a bit of overkill until we can find out something much more conservative.

[Thrashaero]

@lordthorpez soul? I'm not referring to that at all, but then again I guess it depends on your definition of soul. What I'm referring to is there being a lot of effects that may not be readily apparent besides mere lack of death causing seizures. I mean I understand it is necessary, but I hope in the future we can figure out much less drastic measures for that problem.

cont>

[lordthorpez]

@Thrashaero The premise is that severing the corpus collosum prevents severe epilepsy. Epilepsy can cause death. If you're saying that human beings lose some degree of spirituality after such an operation, I would ask you if that's different than amputating a leg due to infection.

I'm reminded of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Medicine and health should not be held back by our concept of the human soul. The human soul's definition should be dealt with in criminal justice.

[Thrashaero]

Severing the corpus collosum or hemisphere removal just sounds archaic as hell. I understand the brain deals with it, but I just think a lot of potential is lost that is unseen/not yet understood.

I find it analogous to removing a dead set of pistons from an engine to get it to work. It may work which is better than nothing, but it's still missing the capacity it once had.

[thatsMrSmileytoyou]

Awesome post