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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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 Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:57 pm Post subject: Man with no brain is French, has government job |
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Report: Man with Almost No Brain Has Led Normal Life
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
French doctors are amazed that a 44-year-old civil servant with an abnormally small brain has led a normal life with a slightly lower than normal IQ, according to a report on Physorg.com.
Doctors said the father of two went to the Hopital de la Timone in Marseille with mild weakness in his left leg. He was given a CT scan and an MRI, which showed that his cerebral cavities or ventricles had massively expanded, according a case history to be published in Saturday's Lancet.
"The brain itself, meaning the grey matter and white matter, was completely crushed against the sides of the skull," Dr. Lionel Feuillet told AFP. "The images were most unusual... the brain was virtually absent."
Click here to read the whole story
The condition is called Dandy Walker complex and is a genetically sporadic disorder that occurs in one out of every 25,000 live births, mostly in females. Although many with Dandy Walker develop dramatic symptoms from the condition, such as an enlarged skull, jerky muscle movements and problems with the nerves that control the face, the condition also can develop unnoticed.
Doctors believe this man's condition could stem from surgery he had at the age of 6 months, when he suffered hydrocephalus or water on the brain and needed an operation to drain a buildup of spinal fluid.
Subsequent tests have revealed that the man has an IQ of 75, with a verbal IQ of 84 and performance IQ of 70. The bulk of people in society have a minimum IQ of 85.
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:06 am Post subject: |
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I watched a series of documentaries a long time ago, on the same subject. (maybe someone can jog my memory, can't think of the name?)
People who were "strangled" during pregnancy and deprived of oxygen to their brain by the embilical cord. They grew paper thin brains which were stuck to the inside of the skull. But all were normal despite the fact you could literally shine a light through their brain/head/skull! Amazing when they shone a flashlight through it.
Points for me, to the notion that quality is much better than quantity.....
Also the same series had an even more amazing documentary about people who had NO memory. Just knew facts like names/numbers etc.....The one main character was an organist, who taught. When he was shown videos of himself teaching the day before, he'd breakdown crying, not believing it was himself....but he managed.
Oliver Sacks really popularized these kinds of oddities, many to do with language abnormalities. Great reading and his site, highlights the case I mentioned above.... http://www.oliversacks.com/
DD |
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Kimchi Cha Cha
Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: was Suncheon, now Brisbane
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| Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:45 am Post subject: |
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The best part of that story is that he works for the civil service.  |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:14 am Post subject: |
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| I wouldn't laugh too much....he's got a better job than you. |
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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 2:38 am Post subject: |
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| TY for the Oliversacks link. This guy had a peaceful life until his examination, now he has to worry about his condition. I couldn't handle the stress. |
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The Perfect Cup of Coffee
Joined: 17 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:11 pm Post subject: |
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| spliff wrote: |
| I wouldn't laugh too much....he's got a better job than you. |
Hahaha...oh. |
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