What is the split brain experiment?In the 1960's there was no other cure for epilepsy other than by cutting off the connection, corpus callosum, between the two hemispheres. Epilepsy is a kind of storm in the brain, which is caused by the excessive signaling of nerve cells, and in these patients, the brain storm was prevented from spreading to the other hemisphere when the corpus callosum was cut off. This made it possible for the patients to live a normal life after the operation.
Corpus CallosumA broad band of nerves that connect the two hemispheres together.
The corpus callosum is the largest collection of white matter within the brain, and it has a high myelin content. Myelin is a fatty, protective coating around nerves that facilitates quicker transmission of information. The corpus callosum is also known as the callosal commissure, is a wide, flat bundle of neural fibers beneath the cortex in the eutherian brain at the longitudinal fissure. It connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and facilitates interhemispheric communication.
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Treatments:
The treatments will be given depending on the persons overall health, medical records and the severity of their seizures.
Ketogenic Diet: This is one of the oldest treatments. It is intended to maintain a starvation period, in that state it produces ketones which help lesson the seizures. The diet is high fat and low carbohydrates, when the main source of calories is fat it forms ketones.
Lesionectomy: An operation to remove a lesion or a dysfunctional portion of the brain that causes the seizures.
Temporal Lobe Resection: Tissue is cut away to remove the seizure focus. The anterior and medial portions are most involved.
Classic Medications used as treatments: Depakote, Dilantin, Mysoline, Phenobarbital, Tranquilizers like Tranxene
Side effects of these drugs: Fatigue, Blurry or doubled vision. Skin rashes, low blood cell count and liver problems are rare and unpredictable.
Multiple Subpial Transection: (MST) This treatment stops seizures by cutting nerve fibers on the outer layer of the brain, protecting the vital functions deeper in the brain.
The treatments will be given depending on the persons overall health, medical records and the severity of their seizures.
Ketogenic Diet: This is one of the oldest treatments. It is intended to maintain a starvation period, in that state it produces ketones which help lesson the seizures. The diet is high fat and low carbohydrates, when the main source of calories is fat it forms ketones.
Lesionectomy: An operation to remove a lesion or a dysfunctional portion of the brain that causes the seizures.
Temporal Lobe Resection: Tissue is cut away to remove the seizure focus. The anterior and medial portions are most involved.
Classic Medications used as treatments: Depakote, Dilantin, Mysoline, Phenobarbital, Tranquilizers like Tranxene
Side effects of these drugs: Fatigue, Blurry or doubled vision. Skin rashes, low blood cell count and liver problems are rare and unpredictable.
Multiple Subpial Transection: (MST) This treatment stops seizures by cutting nerve fibers on the outer layer of the brain, protecting the vital functions deeper in the brain.
Caring for a person with Epilepsy.
How to prevent injuries when a seizure occurs:
How to prevent injuries when a seizure occurs:
- Cushion their head
- Loosen any tight neck wear (Necklaces, ties, collars, ect.)
- Turn the person on their side
- Do not hold the person down
- Don't place anything in their mouth, they are not at risk of swallowing their tongue
- Observe the characteristics of the seizure like the length, movement of the head or eyes, this could help diagnose the type of seizures that are occurring.