Born with half a brain, woman living full life

Published on November 22nd, 2009

Born with only half a brain, Mack can speak normally, graduated from high school and has an uncanny knack for dates. At 27, doctors determined that the right side of her brain had essentially rewired itself to make up for function that was likely lost during a pre-birth stroke. But her childhood and young adult years were fraught with frustration.

“We were surprised to see the extent of the lesion in her brain, which basically took away the left side of her brain,” said Grafman. “There’s some very deep structures remaining, but the surface of her brain, the cortex is 95 percent gone and some of the deeper structures, structures that control movement, are missing. These are all structures that are important for movement, behavior, cognition.”

The only answer, Grafman said, was that Mack’s brain has rewired itself. The remaining half took over some of the essential functions that are normally done by the left, such as speaking and reading. That rewiring, however, came at a cost.

24 users responded in " Born with half a brain, woman living full life "

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# 1 Joe said, on November 22nd, 2009 at 10:22 pm

Didn’t we already learn that people with half a brain could live a full life with the election of George W Bush.

# 2 austin43 said, on November 22nd, 2009 at 11:16 pm

impressive considering alot of americans with a full brain don’t pass high school.

# 3 Troublemaker said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 12:24 am

No comment…

# 4 Cursor_ said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 1:42 am

That means she is dangerous!

Oh right!

Cursor_

# 5 Uncle Patso said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 2:20 am

The brain is an amazing organ! It’s no wonder neuroscience is still in its infancy.

# 6 bobbo, calling mush headed "BS" said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 2:21 am

Lets just admit our humanity is based on our ability to think and people who don’t think well are less human–more like pets.

I can’t wait for a government bureaucrat to institute rational healthcare where $500,000 is NOT SPENT on other half brained neonates so that 10 years later the parents can say with pride that the kid smiles when he ties his shoes.

If you disagree, please note how much time you have spent with the brain damaged outside of a Palin Book signing.

# 7 Zybch said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 4:15 am

I thought this was going to be about Sarah Palin.

# 8 Ah_Yea said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 5:01 am

I’m going to argue – yuck – that Palin isn’t totally stupid, and here is why:

“Publisher HarperCollins says the first-day sales for Sarah Palin’s new memoir are among the best ever for a nonfiction book. …
The publisher reports that Palin’s book, Going Rogue: An American Life, sold 300,000 copies its first day out …”

She got an advance which certainly is in the millions…

So, she works as governor for 2 1/2 years, quits, writes a book, retires wealthy.

Either she is smarter than we think or has very good handlers.

# 9 bobbo, calling mush headed "BS" said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 6:26 am

#8–Ah Yea==one of the dumbests post in quite a while. I assume you are getting even for all the trolling I do?

OR—-you really are a conservative repuglican and really do think that being smart results in and is deserving of being rich?

How childish. Let’s see, how many other “already famous” people have written books that were bought up by their fan base???? Actually, I can’t give you any names as I don’t follow pulp culture==whatever book Paris Hilton wrote, or the Olsen Twins????

# 10 Joe said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 7:23 am

#8 “No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.” H. L. Mencken

# 11 Mr. Fusion said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 8:04 am

#7, Zybch,

I thought this was going to be about Sarah Palin.

Well gee, these misleading headlines from DU’s esteemed editors are fooling a lot of people lately. It figures that pedro would post this though.

# 12 craig said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 8:06 am

Geeze, is it too much to hope that every post not degenerate into political numbskullery?

On a more highbrow note, I wonder what it would feel like for this girl if she could suddenly regain the other half of her brain? How would the rewired brain react if it suddenly had access to MORE grey matter? Would she lapse into mental retardation as if an adult brain were cut off like hers, or would her brain adapt again and make use of the new storage and processing capacity? Pretty cool nonetheless. I wonder if there’s a lower limit to how little brain a human being needs to still function and think.

And does personality diminish as brain matter diminishes?

*Sigh*. Some intelligent comments would be welcome, but I think most of the people who bother to comment on this kind of thing only have… half a brain.

# 13 pedro said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:00 am

On what government dependency does she work? I bet is the FED.

#3 Who asked you?

#11 I think you conFused me with someone who gives a rat’s ass about Palin.

# 14 WmDE said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 11:39 am

# 15 Mr. Fusion said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm

pedro,

#11 I think you conFused me with someone who gives a rat’s ass about Palin.

So how is that goat thing working out for ya?

# 16 Mr. Fusion said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 1:30 pm

#12, Craig,

It sounds like some comments are hitting a little too close to home.

Hey, are you that guy with the wide stance? Just asking.

# 17 pedro said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 2:25 pm

#15 Don’t know. I’m still waiting to know how it went with you.

But don’t worry, I know you get all conFused, so I’ll wait for your answer on it sitting comfortably on my chair.

Just a thought, if they did an hemispherectomy on you, I think the conFusion should subside considerably. You should talk to a neurologist about it.

# 18 deowll said, on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:51 pm

Unfortunately Bobo is most likely right. At some point some government person is going to say this isn’t worth the money, let the kid die unless somebody else covers all the bills.

Please note where the woman’s job is coming from: a church that isn’t concerned about production.

I’m going to interested to learn if Congress is going to really make those staggering cuts to senior care they have in those Health care bills or just put it on the deficit.

The first option will cause a lot of seniors to die sooner because they won’t get what they need to go on living while the second option will cause the nation to become completely insolvent sooner and collapse the entire social safety net along with a lot of other things.

Of course we are already on course for national insolvency even without the health care bill. The only question is when the system comes apart.

# 19 Ralph, the Bus Driver said, on November 24th, 2009 at 12:24 am

#18, deowll,

A government person or an insurance company person? Oopps, the insurance company already did that. Many times every day as they trim those with health problems from their rosters.

So all these countries with a longer longevity AND universal health care are failing? Hhmmm, actually, most are doing better, have higher standards of living, and their seniors are better taken care of. Maybe not perfect, but better.

# 20 Glenn E. said, on November 24th, 2009 at 5:35 am

According to the late Douglass Adams, she’s now eligible to run as President of the Galaxy. Hmmm.

It does seem that in many situations, having too much brains, becomes a liability. The smartest US president in years (since JFK) was Carter. And yet he wasn’t very popular. Meanwhile the most popular US president in years, was Ronald Reagan. And he was suffering with early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Which effects clear thinking. Before being California’s governor, he was only a fair movie actor. That’s hardly a model academic, that you want in charge of the country. But popularity overruled academic credentials. He was just a figurehead, while George Bush Sr. really ran the show.

# 21 Glenn E. said, on November 24th, 2009 at 5:45 am

Some time ago, I saw this documentary about a person that had all but about 10% of their brain die (from some disease or fever). And yet they when on to get a college degree. With very little physical or mental impairment. They say we only use about 10% of our brains, anyway. I guess that person, was using 100% of what they had left of it. It seems to me that a lot of people with 99% of their brains still working, are wasting it watching football games, and Tv game shows like “Deal or No Deal”. How brain dead is that?!

# 22 pedro said, on November 24th, 2009 at 6:05 am

#20 said: “…the smartest US president in years (since JFK) was Carter.”

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha.

Thank you soo much for the comic relief.

# 23 Mr. Fusion said, on November 24th, 2009 at 8:01 am

#22, cherman,

So how is that goat thing working for you?

# 24 pedro said, on November 24th, 2009 at 9:00 am

#23 You’re so conFused, it’s delicious. You just made my entire day. Hilarious!

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