Half a Brain is Enough: The Story of NicoHalf a Brain is Enough is the extraordinary story of Nico, a three-year-old boy who was given a right hemispherectomy to control his severe intractable epilepsy. Antonio Battro, a distinguished neuroscientist and educationalist, describes his work with Nico over several years and explains how a boy with only half a brain has developed into a bright child with relatively minor physical and mental impairment. Eight years later, he runs and plays with only a slight limp. So far, there is no significant cognitive or affective disorder and it appears that Nico's so-called right-hemisphere skills--mathematics, visual arts, and music--have migrated to the left hemisphere. At school, he performs as a child of his age in arithmetic and music; only his draftsmanship and handwriting are poor for his age, but he has not lost his cognitive spatial ability. Battro and his colleagues have been studying and teaching Nico with computers and he is mastering written language with a word processor and is able to make good graphic designs with a computer. Nico performs well above average verbally, a left-brain skill. Battro charts what he calls Nico's "neuroeducation" with humor and compassion in a book that is part case history and part a study of consciousness and the brain. Filled with fascinating details about Nico's abilities, Half a Brain is Enough also includes the latest information about brain surgery, neuronal architecture, and the use of technology in education. Throughout the book, it is clear that Battro and his collleagues are delighted with Nico's progress and grateful for the opportunity to help him and learn with him. Antonio Battro received his MD from the School of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires and his PhD in Psychology from the University of Paris. He has worked with Jean Piaget, Marvin Minsky, and others and is well known around the world for his publications in cognitive development. He lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. |
Contents
The heart is in the brain | 1 |
Sculpting a new brain | 14 |
Compensatory analysis | 25 |
First schooling | 36 |
The cortical shift | 56 |
The double brain | 66 |
Brain education and development | 77 |
Notes | 91 |
97 | |
113 | |
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Common terms and phrases
activity analog analyze anatomical Battro behavior brain growth brain images brainpower cerebral change of scale Changeux compensatory analysis connections conservation of substance cortical shift cyclopean damaged brain Damasio deficits developmental disabled double brain drawing Epigenesis epigenetic epilepsy example experimental Figure Fischer Forward 40 functional hemispherectomy geometric half a brain half-brained child hemi hemianopia hemidecortication hemiplegia hemispherectomized child Howard Gardner Inhelder instance intelligence interaction Jean Piaget Jean-Pierre Changeux language learning left brain left hand left hemisphere lesion analysis Logo Marvin Minsky mental motor nervous system neural networks neurocognitive neuroeducation Neurology neurons neuropsychology neurosurgery Nico Nico's normal Norman Geschwind operational pathways performed problem prosthesis psychology retinas right hand right hemisphere right hemispherectomy screen skills spatial specific split brain spurt stage surgery synapses theory tion Vargha-Khadem Villemure virtual visual cortex writing
Popular passages
Page 98 - Reorganisation of descending motor pathways in patients after hemispherectomy and severe hemispheric lesions demonstrated by magnetic brain stimulation.
Page 101 - Epstein, HT (1974). Phrenoblysis: Special brain and mind growth periods. Developmental Psychobiology, 7, 207—224.
Page 103 - Goldman-Rakic, P. (1987). Development of cortical circuitry and cognitive function.