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Asked by tallulahbelle78 to Damien, Rachael, Simon, Suzi, Tim on 21 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by puddleduck, evlyn123.
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Suzi Gage answered on 21 Jun 2011:
Hi @tallulahbelle78
Believe it or not you can, yes!
In fact I know someone who does just this!The brain is amazingly good at reorganising itself if it’s damaged, so it can cope with a lot of loss before it becomes too bad. However, there are some areas where if it gets damaged the brain can’t reorganise.
I hope this answers your question a bit!
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Rachael Ward answered on 21 Jun 2011:
Hi
Yes, the brain is weird like that! Like Suzi says, it depends which bits work and which dont though. For example, you really need the bit near the back of your neck called the brain stem for basic things like breathing. I know someone who lost about a third of his brain. His memory is poor but he can do most things just as we can!
Comments
tallulahbelle78 commented on :
thankyou so much ive always wanted to know, and yeh you answered my question, thanks:D
laurab commented on :
that is so cool that you can survive with half a brain!! an suzi, the person you know was he/she born like that are did they have an accident?
Suzi commented on :
They had an accident when they were a teenager. And although they have some trouble, intelligence wise they are far smarter than me 🙂
eliotbenvie commented on :
But I thought that one side of the brain controlled the other side of your body? Or does the brain ‘reprogramme’ itself to control the other side too?
Suzi commented on :
Hi @eliotbenvie
You’re right that one half of the brain controls the other half of the body, but yes it can ‘reprogramme’ if it needs to. In fact, when people are left handed, their brain is quite different to those who are right handed, and their brains are not as split in to one half controlling the other side of the body.