Psychology Proceed With a Hemispherectomy With Their Child
Question :
1. What challenges do you think the parents faced in making the decision to proceed with a hemispherectomy with their child? Do you agree with their decision to move forward?
2. What are some examples of the brain's plasticity did you see in this video. Your answer may be in reference to the children who had hemispherectomies, or to other examples discussed in the video
Answer :
Psychology
1. Parents hesitated in proceeding with hemispherectomy. They showed fear. They did not want to bring any kind of harm to their children and, therefore, they first tried to resolve the issues without agreeing for this process. However, after they realized that this is the only way out in order to ensure that their children can live somewhat normal lives, they agreed to it. I completely agree with the decision of the parents to move forward. If the children have not gone through this process, then it might have been possible they could have spent their life in seizure, which would have made their lives and those of those around them unbearable. Undoubtedly, going through hemispherectomy is a difficult decision considering that the children would not be able to use one part of their brain, but due to the ability of the brain’s plasticity, children are seen recovering in the video (George, 2016)
2. There are few examples in the video that showed the brain’s plasticity. In one example, a girl child went through this process. It was shown that after 6 or 7 months of the operation, the child was gradually picking up on things. Her parents said that it is like having a new kid. They had to interact with the girl as if she was not someone before the operation. Another example was of a boy who went through hemispherectomy because he was getting 30-40 seizures a day and sometimes 200-300. The video showed that after a few months, the child started to learn most of the things. He was still having difficulty in speaking but was able to think normally. He showed interest in mathematics. Here, it can be said that the plasticity of the brain is quite a useful feature that helps in rebuilding and improving as needed (George, 2016).
References
George, K. (2016). The Secret Life of the Brain (2 of 5) The Child's Brain (2002) [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK4NhmY5bK0
