Situation #1

A neurosurgeon is about to perform brain surgery. The surgeontouches (stimulates with an electrode) a tiny portion of thepatient’s brain, and the patient’s right finger moves. After notingthe reaction, the surgeon stimulates a portion of the brain a shortdistance away and the patient’s right thumb moves.

Questions to Answer

1. What section of the brain has been stimulated? ____________What lobe is this in? ______________
2. What hemisphere of the brain is being stimulated?________________
3. During this stimulation, would the patient experience feelingsof pain? Why or why not?

Situation #2

A woman has suffered some type of damage to the brain. She isbeing tested to see where the damage might be. She is first shown apicture of herself and she is unable to recognize this picture.When she is shown a picture of her family, she is unable torecognize family members. What part of the brain might beinvolved?

Situation #3

In the case of “The Lost Mariner”, Oliver Sacks writes about a49 year-old man who suffered an accident at the age of 19. Hisscores on intelligence tests are unchanged over time, however, hehas trouble learning new information. What would your diagnosis be?What part of the brain do you think is affected?

Situation #4

Jim falls frequently and shows poor balance and an unusual gait.He shows jerky and uncoordinated movement. These difficulties maybe related to what part of the brain?

Situation #5

A 55 year old woman has suffered a minor stroke. Her majordifficulty is that she has no interest in eating or drinking. Whatarea of the brain may have been affected?

Situation #6

After a car accident, a young woman reports that she seems tohave a hole in her field of vision. She can’t see objects in aparticular location. Her eyes seem to be fine. What might be theproblem?

Situation #7

You are watching a suspenseful video late at night and you heara sudden crash in another room. You leap out of your chair in fear,then realize that your dog kicked over his water bowl. Yourfear/stress reaction involved activation of the______________nervous system. Calming down involved activation ofthe ______________nervous system.

Situation #8

After an accident, patient T. has trouble planning and makingdecisions about how to go about performing his job. He also hastrouble paying attention in meetings. Before the accident he was ahighly reliable employee. After the accident, he adopted anattitude that it did not matter whether he completed assignments orwas courteous to clients. What area of the brain may have beenaffected?

Situation #9

The setting: You are a famous neurosurgeon whospecializes in brain damage involving the language system. In eachof the following cases, make a diagnosis concerning where youbelieve brain damage has occurred.

Case 1: A 56-year-old female has suffered a recent stroke. Shespeaks in a curious manner resembling fluent English but thephrases make no sense. You also find that she comprehends yourverbal or written instructions and can even write them down, buthas difficulty repeating them.

Case2:  An intelligent businessman comes to you andexplains rather agitatedly that he awakened yesterday morning tofind, much to his dismay, that he could no longer read. Your testsdetermine the following: a) He is totally blind in the right visualfield. b) He speaks fluently and comprehends speech. c) He canwrite with his right hand but cannot read what he has written. d)He can copy written words but only with his left hand. You turn toyour puzzled assistant and remark that this is indeed a tough one,but you are willing to bet that you will find brain damage in atleast two areas, which are ________________ and_______________.