Hi On Thu, 28 Mar 2002, Dennis Goff wrote: > Jim Clark posted a message that indicated that neurosurgery is being used > increasingly as a treatment for intractable epilepsy. I don't have a > reference handy, but as I understand that procedure is not a split brain > procedure. Rather the current approach is to identify the locus of the > "irritation" within the cerebral cortex and then remove or isolate that > locus.
Thanks to Dennis for pointing out the limitation of my posting. I should have included the following, which appeared later on the page and mentions severing the corpus callosum as treatment for certain classes of seizure. ------------------start---------------- The following kinds of seizures respond to surgery: partial seizures of temporal or extratemporal origin; secondary generalized seizures (attacks that begin locally and spread to both sides of the brain). For these two types of seizures, a cortectomy, or surgical removal of the area where the seizures begin, is preferred; unilateral, multifocal epileptic seizures associated with infantile hemiplegia, and generalized seizures, specifically those resulting in violent falls and injury, as well as, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. These seizures may be helped by sectioning (cutting) the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is the major pathway connecting one hemisphere of the brain to the other. Sectioning it prevents the spread of the epileptic discharge from one hemisphere to the other. -------------------end------------------------------------ Best wishes Jim ============================================================================ James M. Clark (204) 786-9757 Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax University of Winnipeg 4L05D Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED] CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark ============================================================================ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
