Saturday, March 13, 2010

Brain surgery done while patient was awake

The first-ever open brain surgery with the patient wide awake in the Gulf region was successfully conducted on a 38-year-old Indian patient at the ity SKMC last month.

The surgery included removal of a tumour from the patient’s brain located near the cells responsible for vocalisation and speech. A multi-disciplinary team of more than 20 medical personnel worked on the patient to ensure a successful operation.

According to a statement issued by the hospital on Monday, the patient (name withheld on request), who was brought to the Emergency Department in an unconscious state, had suffered several epileptic fits, post-critical transient aphasia (language impairment) and hemiparesis (muscle weakness on one side of the body).

A CT (computed tomography) scan and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of the brain showed a left frontal cortico-subcortical tumour, which  was in the brain area responsible for  the speech. Next....

Thursday, March 11, 2010

iPhone App Opens World to Boy with Rare Syndrome

Andrew, who at age 8 is the size of a 3- or 4-year-old, has Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a developmental disorder that affects communication and social interaction. It is characterized by low birth weight, slow growth, distinctive facial features and small stature.

But a new iPhone application Andrew uses on an iPod has opened the doors to Andrew's mind.Next...

Music and lyrics: How the brain splits songs

>Your favourite song comes on the radio. You hum the tune; the lyrics remind you of someone you know. Is your brain processing the words and music separately or as one? It's a hotly debated question that may finally have an answer.

People with aphasia, who can't speak, can still hum a tune, suggesting music and lyrics are processed separately. Yet brain scans show that music and language activate the same areas, which might mean the brain treats them as one signal. Next...

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Daniel Rubin: More stories of horrors at airport take wing

On June 23, 2007, David Camp, a zoning consultant from Cary, N.C., was forced to watch, helpless and in horror, as his father - a stroke victim in a wheelchair - was told to stand and walk.
They were traveling through Philadelphia on their way from Venice to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Clearing customs quickly, they then went through the TSA security area before catching their connecting flight.
L. Raymond Camp, a retired professor of speech communication at North Carolina State University, was paralyzed on his right side and suffers from severe aphasia, which left him unable to talk.
"They separated him from us, took away his airport wheelchair, then insisted he stand up and walk through the machine without using his cane," according to his son. "Well, of course that was an impossibility, but they wouldn't listen to us and he can't speakNext...