Is it possible to live without a hemisphere or a cerebellum? Some interesting facts about the unique capabilities of the brain. What happens when the connections between the hemispheres are broken

I don't remember who owns the well-known joke that all sciences are divided into natural and unnatural. Of course, such respected disciplines as physics and chemistry belong to the first category, and biology adjoins them as a poor but accepted relative.

True, after the discoveries in genetics, the advent of genetic engineering and molecular biology, the status of biology has risen. Humanities belong to the second category, while psychology and psychophysiology occupy an indefinite intermediate position - being experimental sciences, they separated from the rest of the humanities, but did not reach the level of natural sciences. Indeed, is it possible to name a discovery in the science of the brain that is comparable in value to the splitting of the atomic nucleus in physics?

It turns out you can. By a strange coincidence, this is also a splitting, but not of the nucleus, but of the brain. But we will tell everything in order.

In the mid-1950s, several American researchers and physicians came up with the idea unusual treatment hopeless cases of epilepsy.

It was about such severe epileptic seizures with loss of consciousness and convulsions, which often followed one after another, did not succumb to drug treatment and quickly led a person to complete disability.

Such common seizures are based on the principle of a vicious circle: pathological (epileptic) electrical activity, having arisen in one hemisphere of the brain, spreads to the other hemisphere along the numerous nerve connections that connect these hemispheres. Now, when such an epileptic "fire" covers the second hemisphere, it supports and strengthens the initial focus in the first hemisphere through the same connections, and so they induce each other until a severe epileptic attack depletes the entire electrical energy brain. And then everything starts all over again, and each previous attack facilitates the occurrence of the next one.

The Americans came up with a simple idea: to disconnect the right and left hemispheres of the brain, cut the nerve connections between them in order to prevent the systematic spread of epileptic discharges to the entire brain. The hemispheres are connected by millions nerve fibers, which transmit information from one hemisphere to another and form the so-called corpus callosum - a whitish dense mass that creates, as it were, a bridge between the two hemispheres. Such an operation was performed on several patients, it really alleviated their suffering and at the same time led to the largest discovery, awarded in 1980 Nobel Prize. It was received by R. Sperry.

What happened after the dissection of the corpus callosum with the behavior and psyche of a person? At first glance, nothing special, and it was already surprising enough. The connections between the two halves of the brain were destroyed, and the person ate, performed daily activities, walked and talked with other people without serious visible deviations in behavior. True, several observations made shortly after the operation were alarming: one patient complained that he behaved strangely with his wife and was unable to control his behavior: while his right hand embraced his wife, his left hand pushed her away. Another patient drew attention to the strange behavior of his left hand before visiting the doctor: while with the help of his right hand he dressed and put himself in order, the left hand tried to unbutton and take off his clothes. There was a situation described in the metaphor, when the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. The matter, however, was not in the hands: it was one half of the brain that did not know what the other half was doing.

Right hand controlled by the left hemisphere, and the left - by the right. However, at the first stage of the study, this observation was not given due importance.

When the simple observation of the behavior of the subjects was replaced by a systematic study of their mental functions, the researchers were simply amazed. A lot of things that are not difficult for a person with a intact corpus callosum, turned out to be inaccessible for patients with dissected ligaments. The right hand, which most of us used to rely on in all cases of life, failed at the simplest tasks: it could not redraw the simplest geometric figures, she could not put together simple constructions from cubes, she could not find simple, everyday objects by touch. Left hand she coped perfectly with all these tasks, but could not write, even very clumsily, a single word. However, even without crossing the corpus callosum, right-handers usually do not write with their left hand.

Thus, the right hemisphere, which controls the left hand, in all actions, with the exception of writing, was superior left hemisphere. But on the other hand, the right hemisphere turned out to be inaccessible, in addition to writing, also the function of speech.

True, the right hemisphere was capable of understanding speech, if the grammatical constructions were not very complex. But the production of speech was inaccessible to him. However, doctors have long known that when the left hemisphere is damaged, speech is impaired, even if the right hemisphere is completely intact. On the other hand, the right hemisphere was significantly superior to the left in the ability to navigate in space, in the perception of music, in the recognition of complex images that cannot be decomposed into simple components, in particular, in the recognition of human faces and emotional expressions on these faces.

Experiments with temporary "switching off" alternately of the left and right hemispheres, without preliminary dissection of the corpus callosum, provided very interesting material for reflection. Such shutdowns are carried out with the help of electric shocks in patients with mental illness. Prof. V. L. Deglin from St. Petersburg offered his subjects during such treatment logical tasks like: "All monkeys can climb trees. A raccoon is a monkey. Can a raccoon climb trees?" When, after electroconvulsive therapy, the patient regained the ability to answer questions (although one of the hemispheres still remained much more depressed than the opposite), i.e. those whose left hemisphere was turned off answered this question in the negative, and those whose right hemisphere was suppressed answered positively. This does not mean that people with a disabled right hemisphere and preserved function of the left could really imagine a raccoon climbing trees. To a direct question whether they imagine it, they answered in the negative. But they strictly and blindly followed the formal condition of the problem, without thinking about the degree of correspondence of these conditions to reality: since it is said that the raccoon is a monkey, and the monkeys climb trees, then the raccoon can do it.

From this experiment it clearly follows that the left hemisphere is much more focused on logical constructions than on living reality. But in connection with this orientation, the left hemisphere is more adapted to the definition of unambiguous patterns and cause-and-effect relationships, which is necessary for scientific thinking. The ability to solve formal syllogisms, as well as the activity of the left hemisphere as a whole, develops in the process of schooling. In small children, as well as in peoples of other civilizations who do not know our system of school education, the right hemisphere dominates with its orientation to the real world, which does not fit into the Procrustean bed of logical laws.

The brain is designed in such a way that if visual information is presented on the left (in the left visual field), then it enters the right hemisphere, and if it is presented on the right (in the right visual field), then it enters the left hemisphere. Of course, with a whole brain, information, in whatever hemisphere it enters, is immediately, in a fraction of a second, transmitted through the corpus callosum to the opposite hemisphere. But what happens when the corpus callosum is dissected? If at the same time information enters the left hemisphere, it is realized, and a person easily expresses his attitude towards it both in actions and in words. If it enters the right hemisphere, then the person's behavioral response may be adequate, but he cannot explain the reasons for his behavior, nor can he say anything about the information itself, i.e. does not recognize her. For example, one subject was shown a series of landscape slides in her left visual field.

Suddenly, a very frivolous, obscene scene was shown on one slide, and the woman laughed in embarrassment. When asked by the experimenter about the reason for the laughter, the woman was at first confused, and then said: "You have some funny cars here."

This experiment well reflects some of the most important patterns of organization. human psyche. Information that is unconscious to a person can induce him to act, true meaning which are inaccessible to humans. This has been well known in psychology since the time of Freud. But for a person, conditions are unacceptable under which he is not able to explain his own behavior. Therefore, he always finds a pseudo-explanation that allows him to remain in the blissful confidence that he consciously and voluntarily controls his behavior. This mechanism is clearly seen in the phenomenon psychological protection, which is discussed below.

More recently, the American researcher Steriad conducted more sophisticated experiments that suggest that the exchange of information between the right and left hemispheres is not the same and the right has certain advantages. A split-brained subject was shown two two-digit numbers, one in the left visual field and one in the right visual field, and asked to determine whether they added up to an odd or even number. The answer was given not verbally, but in the form of pressing one of the two keys. In most cases, the answer was correct (i.e., the behavior - pressing the keys - corresponded to the conditions of the task), but the subject could only name the number that was presented to the left hemisphere (in the right visual field). Since everything that is presented to the left hemisphere can be called words, it remains to be assumed that the left hemisphere did not have information about the second number. But the answer was correct and it is logical to conclude that the final decision was made by the right hemisphere. But for this, the right hemisphere had to have all the information.

It remains to be assumed that if information from the right hemisphere to the left is transmitted only along the nerve pathways that form the corpus callosum, then information in the opposite direction (from left to right) is transmitted along some additional pathways. It is purely anatomically possible. Both hemispheres are, as it were, planted on the brain stem - a very important unpaired formation, in which all vital centers are located. Communication between the hemispheres can, in principle, be carried out through the trunk. For a long time it was believed that all meaningful information is transmitted only through the corpus callosum, but the above experiment suggests that the right hemisphere is located in special position- it receives meaningful information from the left also through the stem channels. The experiments were repeated using two syllables (it was necessary to determine whether they together form a word or a meaningless letter combination); with two lines (it was necessary to determine whether they were directed parallel to each other or perpendicular). In all cases, the subjects solved the problems, although they could report only on the information presented to the left hemisphere.

The idea of the advantage of the right hemisphere in the process of obtaining information does not contradict some other very interesting data.

Scientists have shown that the right hemisphere healthy people"grabs" any information a little faster than the left. In the whole brain, it is the right hemisphere that collects information from all space, both from the left and from the right half of it. Right hemisphere faster and more successful than the left recognizes complex, ambiguous information (such as the expression of a human face). And, finally, one argument that does not yet have the strength of scientific evidence, since it has not been obtained in a rigorous experiment. When a person finds himself in conditions that require an urgent decision and immediate action, taking into account the entire complex and multifaceted situation, he often takes all the necessary actions before they are really comprehended and analyzed.

Moreover, after the completion of these actions, he is often unable to list them and state their sequence. Unconscious behavior is carried out, but taking into account all the key aspects of the situation.

Something similar happens in hypnosis. When a person is told that he is in a forest clearing full of ripe strawberries, he behaves as if picking strawberries, in full accordance with the given situation.

He does not realize that he is in fact in a city apartment full of furniture; however, he successfully walks around tables and chairs, does not bump into furniture and walls, and after returning to a normal state of consciousness, he cannot tell anything about his behavior in hypnosis, which, in the opinion of an outside viewer, was, although strange, but holistic, purposeful and well- organized, taking into account all external obstacles. There is reason to believe that such integration of behavior without the participation of consciousness both in hypnosis and in extreme situations is under the control of the right hemisphere. I substantiated this point of view in detail in an article described jointly with V. L. Raikov 20 years ago, and since then many experimental works have appeared in which the predominant role of the right hemisphere in the state of hypnosis is convincingly shown. This function of the right hemisphere is inseparable from its ability to quickly grasp all the information and evaluate its significance before fully understanding it.

This property of the right hemisphere helps to resolve an old psychological paradox. Psychological defense mechanisms, which will be discussed in one of the chapters of the book, protect consciousness from information that is unacceptable to it.

However, protecting consciousness, these mechanisms themselves function without the participation of consciousness. Where does the knowledge about what kind of information should not be allowed to reach consciousness come from, if consciousness does not directly interfere with the work of psychological defense mechanisms and if it does not grow old at all about this work? I suggested that it is in the right hemisphere that the so-called "image of I" is formed - a holistic figurative representation of a person about himself, thanks to which a person's self-identification is constantly preserved, his identification with himself, the "image of I" cannot be formed without the participation of consciousness responsible for all conscious actions and attitudes of a person, for his social motives. On the other hand, the "I-image" is a full-blooded image with countless connections that connect a person with other people and the world as a whole. Such an image, due to its complexity, versatility, ambiguity and, often, internal inconsistency, cannot be fully realized. Our consciousness, based on logical thinking, habitually "straightens" and simplifies reality and is not able to cover such a number of connections that characterizes the "I image". No matter how detailed a person talks about himself, he always feels that he is not exhausted by any analysis and explanation, that he is inexpressibly richer than his own conscious idea of himself.

This feeling is based on the "I-image". We can say that the "image of I" is a plenipotentiary representative of consciousness in the realm of the unconscious (in the right hemisphere). And due to the fact that the right hemisphere "grasps" any information a little faster than the left one, the "I-image" has the opportunity to evaluate this information before it is realized and decide whether it can be admitted to consciousness. As an authorized representative of consciousness, the "I-image" has the right to make such a decision and, due to this, is the main regulator of our behavior.

But we have not yet answered the question, what is the main difference between the hemispheres, what is their task in the system of thinking, which could explain all the disparate facts within the framework of a single system. This question caused a great discussion in the scientific world, and we will try to answer it in a satya.

1. In 2012, the US Government, in conjunction with the Government Accountability Office, prepared and published the "Report of the Report of the Report, which recommended the preparation of the Report of the Report of the Report."

2. A guy from South Africa named Martin Pistorius stayed in a coma for two years, and when he woke up, he realized with horror that he could not tell others about the change in his condition: he was not able to move or make any sound.

Trapped in his helpless body, but fully understanding everything that was happening around him, Martin lay still ten years. And only after that the ability to communicate with the outside world began to gradually return to it.

3. The term "princess disease" in China and Korea refers to a mental disorder that occurs in young women prone to narcissism, egocentrism and "melodramatic" behavior. This ailment is expressed in the fact that a woman begins act like a princess in the truest sense of the word.

4. After the arrest of serial killer and child rapist Robert Black, police found his own daughter bound and gagged in the trunk of the perpetrator's car.

Robert Black

5. If the "bridge" connecting the hemispheres of the human brain is destroyed, then they form two independent "I" with different impulses, desires and abilities - two full-fledged personalities in one body.

6. Ten kilometers from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, where the accident occurred, there is another nuclear power plant, which was hit by a tsunami with no less destructive force. However, the tragedy was avoided there thanks to the decisive actions of the leader and the heroism of his subordinates.

7. You can laugh at the naivety of Nigerian scammers who send out letters on behalf of kings and presidents in the hope of hitting the big jackpot, but sometimes they manage to pull off something truly grandiose. Once, for example, a group of Nigerian scammers managed to sell a non-existent airport to a reputable international bank for $242 million. Moreover, the scam was revealed only three years after the transaction.

8. The only diamond mine open to the general public is located in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. If a visitor finds a diamond there, he may leave it to yourself. Since 1972 (when the mine was officially designated a state park), more than 31,000 gemstones have been found in Murfreesboro.

9. An agoraphobic (fear of open spaces) British woman from Crawley decided to overcome her illness and in April 2015 left home for the third time in ten years. And ... immediately fell into the open hatch. The result is a broken nose and a crushed leg bone.

10. Golden eagles hunt mountain goats by dropping prey from rocks.

Another collection of entertaining facts from the series "With the world on a string", which will distract you from the harsh realities of our lives! Watch and discuss!
If the "bridge" connecting the hemispheres of the human brain is destroyed, then they form two independent "I" with different impulses, desires and abilities.

You can laugh at the naivety of Nigerian scammers who send out letters on behalf of kings and presidents in the hope of hitting the big jackpot, but sometimes they manage to pull off something truly grandiose. Once, for example, a group of Nigerian scammers managed to sell a non-existent airport to a reputable international bank for $242 million. Moreover, the scam was revealed only three years after the transaction.

It has been scientifically proven that a man wearing a white t-shirt with a large "T" in front seems to be about 10% more attractive to women. This is due to the fact that such a T-shirt visually makes a man more broad-shouldered and narrower in the hips, which naturally attracts the weaker sex.

A guy from South Africa named Martin Pistorius stayed in a coma for 2 years, and when he woke up, he realized with horror that he could not tell others about the change in his condition: he was not able to move or make any sound. Trapped in his helpless body, but fully understanding everything that was happening around him, Martin lay for another 10 years. And only after that the ability to communicate with the outside world began to gradually return to it.

In 2012, the US Government, in conjunction with the Government Accountability Office, prepared and published the "Report of the Report of the Report, which recommended the preparation of the Report of the Report of the Report."

The term "princess disease" in China and Korea refers to a mental disorder that occurs in young women prone to narcissism, egocentrism and "melodramatic" behavior. This ailment is expressed in the fact that a woman begins to behave like a princess in the truest sense of the word.

After the arrest of serial killer and child rapist Robert Black, police found his own daughter bound and gagged in the trunk of the perpetrator's car.

Ten kilometers from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, where the accident occurred, there is another nuclear power plant, which was hit by a tsunami with no less destructive force. However, the tragedy was avoided there thanks to the decisive actions of the leader and the heroism of his subordinates.

In 1993, a resident of the US state of Missouri deliberately damaged a dam on the Mississippi so that his wife could not get home in time, and he would calmly revel in the evening with friends. However, his cunning turned into disastrous consequences: the flood covered an area of 57 square kilometers, all bridges were swept away by water, a barge crashed into a gas station, causing a terrible fire, and he himself was arrested. As a result of the trial, this figure received a life sentence.

When a raven is killed, its comrades flock to the “funeral” to pay “the last duty: they sit on the branches of the nearest trees and look at the deceased in deathly silence for about 20 minutes. Then, as if on command, they fly away at the same time.

When the Rajuput warriors (an ethnic group in Pakistan and India) were preparing for battle, they put special frames with trunks on their horses, which made them look like elephants. Seeing such “calves”, the enemy elephants refused to attack.

In Japan, there is a tame penguin named La La. Every day he walks alone through the city to the local fish market with a backpack, which the traders invariably fill with fresh fish.

Polish poet and writer Stanisław Jerzy Lec was in German captivity and fled, killing the overseer with a shovel, which he was supposed to dig his own grave, and disguised himself in his uniform.

Professional French robber Albert Spaggiari went to jail after his gang emptied bank cells worth 60 million francs. During the trial, he spun the judge with three boxes, which completely confused him, and then took advantage of the confusion and jumped out the window, where a motorcycle was left especially for him. He was never caught, the robber died a free man.

The famous boxer Michael Gomez (“Irish Mexican”) decided to end his career in one second, right during the fight. In the middle of the fifth round, he simply stopped defending, turned around and walked out of the ring while his opponent was still hitting him.

The only diamond mine open to the general public is located in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. If a visitor finds a diamond there, he can keep it for himself. Since 1972 (when the mine was officially designated a state park), more than 31,000 gemstones have been found in Murfreesboro.

An agoraphobic (fear of open spaces) British woman from Crawley decided to overcome her illness and in April 2015 left home for the third time in ten years. And ... immediately fell into the open hatch. The result is a broken nose and a crushed leg bone.

An intern at Lantern recorded lectures by science journalist Alexei Paevsky and Anna Khoruzha, founder of the Neuronovosti.ru portal, about the capabilities of the human brain.

In December, the Contact business space hosted two popular science lectures on the structure of the human brain. Science journalist with ten years of experience Alexey Paevsky and resident doctor of the Scientific Center of Neurology, founder of the Neuronovosti.ru portal Anna Khoruzhaya gave two lectures on the possibilities of the brain and spoke about unique cases in medicine. Below is a transcript of some of the things they talked about.

“The possibilities of a thing that everyone has, but which not everyone uses”

Sometimes events occur that baffle doctors and scientists. And each such case becomes an occasion for many years of investigation, research, hypotheses. Anatoly Bugorsky fell under a working proton splitting accelerator - a beam of frantic power passed through him, after which they do not survive, but he remained alive.

Other interesting cases are known. Terry Wallis was an ordinary American gopnik. This 22-year-old idiot just got married, had a daughter, and one evening he went with his friend ... What to do? Of course, drive cars. And he did it in a state of severe alcohol intoxication. How does it usually end? A car falling off a bridge. The driver died, and Terry received a head injury incompatible with life, but survived. True, he plunged into a deep coma. And suddenly, in 2003, 19 years after he lay in a state that never comes out, the guy suddenly opened his eyes and spoke.

The first thing he did was to ask for a Coca-Cola and ask what kind of old woman had left the room. It was his mother. He tried to walk, but he never succeeded. The studies that have been done have shown amazing thing: at the time of injury most neural connections died, and in 19 years the brain grew new ones. In other words, regenerated itself.

Photo vk.com/public151114819

The famous American Phineas Gage worked as a tunnel blaster in 1845. Once, as usual, he planted explosives near the tunnel, but something went wrong, and he was hit by an explosive wave. There, by chance, lay a metal crowbar that entered his skull from the cheekbone, passed behind the eye, piercing it, struck the brain and exited the top of the head. Interestingly, Phineas didn't even lose consciousness. He demanded a doctor, and when he arrived, the patient with the words: "Doctor, there is a lot of work for you" almost spat out part of the brain. The doctor pulled out a crowbar and treated the wound. Within a year, Phineas recovered, but became abrupt and irritable. He even had to leave the US. Ten years later, he still died, but the cause was not an injury. As it turned out when studying his skull, the crowbar severed the connections between the emotional cortex and the frontal lobe. This is an example of an anti-lobotomy.

In the world they live perfectly unique people. For example, a girl with one hemisphere of the brain - a beautiful Frenchwoman and clever Michelle Mac - IQ is over a hundred, speaks two languages since childhood, and everything is fine with her. Once, for other reasons, she underwent a tomography, and the doctor fainted, because the girl did not have one hemisphere - it did not develop. However, she did not experience any health or mental problems. Just one hemisphere took over the function of two. Such people have one “but” - they do not have stereo vision: we see a three-dimensional picture, but they see a flat one.

Is it possible to live with ten percent of the brain or no cerebellum at all?

Another unique case: there are 86 billion neurons in our brain. Approximately 70 billion are located in the cerebellum - the part of the brain that is responsible for the coordination of movements. If the cerebellum is removed, the person will lose balance and be unable to walk. In China, a 24-year-old girl from a village came for an MRI scan. She is married and walks absolutely normally. Of the pathologies, only developmental delay in childhood, but now she is a fully socialized girl, although she does not have a cerebellum and never had one. Not a single connection in the brain goes to the cerebellum, the brain can live without most neurons and manages to make up for the coordination of movement without it.

Photo vk.com/public151114819

But it turns out that life is possible even with ten percent of the brain. The most interesting case: a petty official comes with a complaint of pain in his leg. They decided he had a stroke and needed an MRI. It turned out that the man had lost 90 percent of his brain, although we know that he was originally. In his youth, they put "noise" on him, and it was the electric waves that destroyed the brain. But the man is completely without deviations. This is a manifestation of extreme plasticity - our brain can change and take on the functions of dead connections.

Myths about hemispheres and memory

Anna Khoruzhaya dispelled the myth that the right hemisphere is responsible for creativity, while the left hemisphere is responsible for analytical operations. In fact, both hemispheres of the brain work in the same way, just one of them takes a greater part in certain activities. It has to do with certain brain structures. The right hemisphere more easily integrates the general, and the left hemisphere specializes in something narrow. Previously, it was assumed that the features of the structure of the skull can be said about the features of a person's character. Now this myth has been dispelled, but it was the first step towards studying the functions of the brain.

Photo vk.com/public151114819

The scientist Penfield discovered that there are zones in our cortex that are completely responsible for our perception, for all our sensations and movements. He assigned parts of the cerebral cortex to different functions of parts of the body. Based on this theory, scientists tried to find the place where the memory was located. The experimental mouse was removed sections of the bark, but she still found a way out of the maze and remembered the way. Then they assumed that the brain is integral and memory is located in all parts of the brain, but this opinion was refuted. Some areas of the brain are still responsible for memory, and now scientists are struggling to find out which areas of the brain affect creative consciousness and the flight of thought, and how such a small organ allows us to be such complex, highly organized people, because both of your hemispheres work for everything. one hundred percent.

Anna Khoruzhaya also shared a very useful advice: “When you have a difficult task ahead of you: write an article or compose a poem, but you can’t do it, get distracted. It's all about concentration. Go take a walk. And then you'll be fine."

The next popular science lecture in Belgorod will be held on January 6th. Science journalist and blogger Asya Kazantseva.

4. After the arrest of serial killer and child rapist Robert Black, police found his own daughter bound and gagged in the trunk of the perpetrator's car.

Robert Black

10. Golden eagles hunt mountain goats by dropping prey from rocks.