It turns out that this is often but not always the case. In a recent paper, a team of researchers from INCYT, based in Argentina, describes a woman who remains remarkably functional after enduring first a hemorrhagic and then an ischemic stroke. These events combined to create multiple lesions, which damaged many areas on both the right and left hemispheres of her brain. Normally such disturbances would be deeply harmful. For the woman in question here, a 44-year old known as CG, these events had only mild impacts.

The research team verified CG's resilience in multiple ways. First they assessed her sense of smell, taste and emotional recognition (the ability to interpret emotions in other people's facial expressions) in comparison to a control group of women without brain lesions. Despite a reduced sense of smell, CG performed within a normal range on almost every respect. Additional comparisons showed that CG exhibited no impairments of attention, memory, language or social cognition skills (such as inferring the meaning of others' emotions and thoughts).

Two members of the research team also visited CG at her home, which is a more true-to-life setting than a somewhat artificial research lab environment. As her mother and a long-time friend confirmed that CG's functioning was normal, CG herself was an exemplary host who was highly attuned to everyone's needs. This revealed high cognitive functioning, almost as though her lesions had never occurred at all. Indeed, the only impacts that endured over time were her compromised sense of smell as well as a loss of sensitivity in CG's right hand. (Photo Credit: Image From 'A Lesion-Proof Brain?' via EurekAlert!)

Other people with brain lesions have also shown surprising resilience — for example, some people can maintain their language skills even after the left hemisphere of their brain is removed. In general these cases involve lesions to a single brain region. CG's case is unique because she endured multiple lesions extended across the brain and yet maintained strong functioning. One possible cause for this is that her brain "re-wired" itself to maintain its former level of functioning, which often occurs in similar cases. This process involves "plastic changes" in the brain.

However, study authors Adolfo García and Agustín Ibáñez are not convinced that this occurred for CG, because re-wiring usually takes a long time. They note that "her cognitive repertoire was near-optimal shortly after her stroke, which rules out the possibility of slow-paced plastic changes coming in to compensate for missing functions."

In short, CG's experience is an enigma that reveals just how much we still have to learn about the way the brain works. As García and Ibáñez note, "We simply have no full-fledged theory to account for almost immediate neuroplastic changes in adulthood." That work continues. Meanwhile, "these reports open a small window of hope, suggesting that, though very exceptionally, some people can maintain high levels of functionality even after sustaining severe, extended brain damage."

Frontiers

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

AMERICAN SOUNDTRACK: Singer-Songwriter Kaylin Roberson Honors Father and 250 Years of Brave Soldiers in Stirring Ballad 'So I Didn't Have To' (Video)

America of 1976 Would Not Recognize Herself in Our 250th Year

Baseball Players Refuse to Wear Pride Uniforms, Forced to Forfeit

Canada: Carney Liberals Move to 'Force' Radical Internet Surveillance Bill through House

Belfast Is Burning, and the Media Won't Say Why

Israel, Hezbollah Agree to New Ceasefire after Conflict Delayed US-Iran Talks

Report: Biden-Era FDA Spun Autopsy Results to Downplay COVID Vaccine Deaths in Kids, Letter Shows

Newly Exposed: Fauci Funded Wuhan Lab Research That Sparked COVID; Evidence Fauci Manipulated Intelligence and Lied to Congress

From Pulisic's 'Bible Time' to Team Prayer on the Field, US Gives 'Glory to God' at World Cup

Good News: Gasoline Drops Below $4 A Gallon

Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro Abandoning 30,000 Children as Democrats Push to Strip School Choice

Canada's Parliament Officially Passes 'Bible Ban' Bill C-9

Occupied Britain: Muslim Rape Gang Report Warns against Dangers of Mass Immigration (Part 1)

Obama Center Contractors Say Millions Are Owed

VP Vance Defends Iran Deal, Says It Will Benefit Both America and Israel

President Trump Signs MOU with Iran During Dinner at Palace of Versailles (VIDEO)

[Watch] JD Vance Ventures Onto 'The View,' Serves Up an Unforgettable Schooling

School District Pays $95K to Settle Lawsuit After Painting Over Bible Verse Tribute to Charlie Kirk

Is MLB Treating Christians Differently? Senator Hawley Demands Answers

Hundreds of Thousands of Antidepressants Recalled Over Potential Cancer Risk