Special Report: How Did Giffords Survive The Brain Injury
Posted On January 15, 2011
The tragedy in Tucson Arizona over the weekend has shocked our nation. Our thoughts and prayers go our to Congresswoman Giffords and her family. It seems like a complete miracle that she survived at all, given that this warped individual shot her through the head at point blank range.
How can it be that she could survive at all?
I believe it comes down to the fact that there is a remarkable amount of redundancy in your brain. In other words, many areas of your brain multi-task in many ways. Functions like speaking, reading, walking, or eating don’t happen in a single area.
It’s not like a computer, with computer chips that perform specific functions. The functions of the brain are distributed over many regions, and even single brain cells can perform many different types of tasks in different situations.
This is key, because it means that if you lose one area of your brain, the other “backup” regions can take over.
In the case of the horrific shooting of Congresswoman Giffords, her chance of improving is increased by the fact that the bullet did not cross brain hemispheres, and did not slice open any major cerebral arteries. Even better news is that she seems to be responsive, and able to respond to “commands”.
Even with the redundancy and “parallel processing” capability of the brain, I think we all expect there to be some functions that are compromised, given the extent of the insult. That said, I hope and pray the miracle of her recovery will continue throughout a long and productive life.
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