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Patient Revives After 19 Years By Rewiring Brain

dylanduck writes "A study of the recovery of a man who spent 19 years in a minimally conscious state has revealed the likely cause of his regained consciousness - his brain rewired itself around the injured areas into totally novel structures. It suggests the human brain shows far greater potential for recovery and regeneration then ever suspected." From the article: "There were ... significant changes between scans taken just two months after the recovery, and the most recent, at 18 months. Some of the new pathways had receded again, while others seem to have strengthened and taken over as Wallis continued to improve."

2 of 419 comments (clear)

  1. Re:19 years? by Yvanhoe · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Now you understand why they keep Sharon plugged...

    Just JOKING! Not flaming...

    --
    The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
  2. Re:Terri Schiavo... by PRC+Banker · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Reminds me of a joke:

    An English man tells a doctor "I'd really love to be Irish, is there anything you could do for me?"
    The doctor replies "Well, it _is_ a risky operation, we just need to remove 1/4 of your brain."
    The English man says "Wow, but if that means I can be truely Irish, I'd like to have it done."
    --Operation--
    After the operation the man is coming-round in his hospital bed.
    The doctor says "Steady yourself, I'm afraid that there was a terrible mistake: we removed 3/4 of your brain!" The man says "No worries mate, where's the barbequeue?" [He had become Australian.]

    --
    Oh.