Is it true that for decades a French official lived with only 10% of the brain?

In the publications of the media and bloggers, one can meet an amazing story: the Frenchman lived with only 10% of the brain for many years, while he felt well, and pathology was discovered only when he complained about weakness in his legs. We decided to check if she was true.

Many media wrote about the Frenchman with 10% of the brain: "Komsomolskaya Truth"(" Frenchman lives without brain ")," "Moscow 24"(" The Frenchman has been living without a brain for 50 years "),"News"(" The Frenchman lived for 44 years with almost no brain ") or Lenta.ru ("The 44-year-old Frenchman almost disappeared"). This story in their materials also mentioned Republic And "Russian newspaper". Briefly her They tell So: “A man does not have 90% of the brain. He collapsed for 30 years, but this did not prevent him from working, marrying and making children. ”

Without a detailed understanding of how the human brain works, it will not work to understand history. To simplify the understanding of this explanation of the structure that are directly related to history, will be allocated.

The brain is an organ of the central nervous system located in the front and upper part of the cranial cavity. The brain is medium adult man Weighs Approximately 1200-1400 g and occupies the overwhelming part of the capacity of the skull.

Accepted divide The brain for three large parts: Big brain hemispheres, cerebellum (lat. Cerebellum - literally "small brain") and Brain trunk. Also exists Division into five departments:

• oblong brain;
• the posterior, including a bridge, cerebellum and epiphyse;
• average;
• intermediate;
• The front brain, represented by large hemispheres. 

In addition to the mentioned structures, the brain also are located ventricles - cavities filled with cerebrospinal fluid. There are four of them in total: two side (the left is traditionally called the first, and the right one is the second) communicate through the Monroe hole with third, and he, in turn, is through the Sylvia water supply with Fourth. From the fourth ventricle, the spinal fluid enters the subarachnoid space (the cavity between the soft and spider cerebral membranes of the brain) through two side holes of the lueks and one median The hole of Mazhandi (In the illustration, this is the bottom of the purple site).

Thus, key concepts are a large brain, cerebellum and brain stem, as well as the third and fourth ventricles and the hole of Mazhandi.

Some resources, such as "Komsomolskaya Truth", In their publications gave references to the original publication In the authoritative British medical journal The Lancet. There, the case is described in the format of the clinical picture, that is, one paragraph of the text and the photograph accompanying it. Although the text is small, but difficult to understand with non -specialists, so we will retell it in our own words.

A 44 -year -old man turned about the two -week light weakness of his left leg. At the age of six months, the patient has accumulated cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. Doctors installed a ventriculoperitoneal shunt - a pipe along which the excess fluid leaves the brain is diverted into the abdominal cavity and sucks into the venous channel. However, at the age of 14, the patient complained about violation of the coordination of movements and muscle weakness, so the shunt was removed (usually the shunt is put forever, but In some cases Doctors can decide that it is no longer necessary, and remove it. It is most likely that after the shunt was removed, close observation was carried out behind the child, but there were no signs of accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid. - approx. Ed.). Its neurological development and medical history were normal. He is married, has two children and works as a civil servant (in the original White Collar, that is, a “white collar”). Further, due to the appeal in adulthood, the patient was made by CT and MRI, where they found an increase in the side, third and fourth ventricles, a very thin cortical layer, the presence of a rear hole cyst and a narrowing of the Mazhandi hole. Neuropsychological testing showed that its intelligence coefficient (IQ) is 75, with this verbal IQ - 84, and the performance - IQ 70. To help it, the doctors conducted neuroendoscopic ventriculocustery, that is, the minimally invasive method made a hole in the third ventricle (yellow on visualization) so that the liquid is not so that the liquid is not fluid) accumulated. However, the manipulation did not give the desired effect, and then a ventriculoperitoneal shunt was again installed, dumping the excess spinal fluid into the abdominal cavity. After the introduction of a shunt, the results of a neurological examination became normal for several weeks. The results of neuropsychological testing and CT have not changed.

The case is really very unusual, which is why it was published in such an authoritative journal. However, scientists themselves do not write anything about 10% of the brain. In order to understand where this thesis came from, we recall that the brain is divided into three parts: a large brain, cerebellum and brain stem. Having studied the patients given in the publication of the CT and MRI, the editor -in -chief of the Neuronovosti.ru portal, a scientific journalist and popularizer of science Alexei Paevsky notedthat the patient is completely stored and not changed in size cerebellum and brain stem. In percentage ratio to the weight of the whole brain of the brain and trunk They make up About 13%, plus some part of the big brain (insignificant, but not zero) remained in the patient. That is, 10%-this is still a dimming, most likely, from the average weight of the brain it has preserved at least 15%.

The second important aspect that is missed in most publications is that neurons in the human brain are distributed extremely unevenly. It is in the cerebellum that is most of them. By estimates Some scientists, out of 120 billion of all brain neurons, 101 billion are located in the cerebellum. Other Assess The total number of neurons is more modest: “only” 85 billion, of which 69 billion are again on the cerebellum. Thus, if you transfer brain loss from weight and volume to the amount of neurons, the figure will not be so shocking - the Frenchman lost about 20% of all neurons.

Unfortunately, in the material of The Lancet, scientists do not say at what age the patient’s brain began to be replaced by cerebrospinal fluid. It is most likely that before the discovery of this pathology, neither Ctte nor MRI diagnostics was carried out, so there is no way to find out how his brain looked at six months or at 14 years old. Moreover, data is not enough even to understand whether it was born with such a feature or a spinal fluid gradually dissolved his brain.

It is also important to keep the so -called neuroplasticity - With an innate absence or loss of part of the brain and neurons, the rest of the areas are able to completely or partially take on its functions. Here is a pair of examples.

24-year-old Chinese woman turned to doctors about constant dizziness, and experts found outthat she is deprived of a cerebellum since birth. Instead, in the woman’s brain there was only a spinal fluid. However, at that time she was already married and raised her daughter. It is noted that in childhood she lagged behind in development from her peers-she learned to stand only at four years (on average this happens in nine to ten months), and walking without support at seven years (on average this happens at about 12 months). However, in adulthood, the woman almost ceased to differ from her peers. She frantically pronounces some words and can not always touch the tip of the nose with her eyes closed, but, despite the absence of 80% of neurons, lives a completely normal life.

People can live completely without one hemisphere of the brain removed by surgical path. Such an operation called hemisferctomy, and most often it Conduct, to Relieve patient from unconscious attacks epilepsy. American scientists Compared MRI of the brain of six adults who have undergone such an operation in childhood, with six volunteers. It turned out that in patients after hemisferctomy in the brain do not have significant differences from normal, and cognitive and physical abilities are the same as their peers. Loss of one of the hemispheres at an early age stimulates The development of the second, and in any way, a person does not experience special problems. The operation of hemisferctomy in adulthood and its consequences are more or less believable Showed In the 15th series of the third season of the popular television series Dr. House.

Thus, in most details, the story of a Frenchman who has lost a significant part of the brain is true. However, journalists very freely calculated these 10%: 13%, who are reaching the cerebellum and brain stem, are completely stored, the patient also had a small part of the cortex of the hemispheres. Moreover, in terms of the number of lost neurons, the situation is even less fatal - 80% of neurons are in a fully preserved cerebellum, that is, the loss was less than 20%. The most correct (although not so impressive) heading for such news would be this: "The Frenchman lived with only 10% of the brain bark for decades."

Image on the cover: Image by PEXELS from Pixabay

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