Brain Function and Neuropathology

By Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Call me at 800-992-9447

Before you can understand brain injury, it is important to first understand normal brain function. The brain and the neurological system operate very much like a computer and its peripheral device. While analogizing a life altering brain injury to a computer may seem to trivialize the severity of the condition, our increased understanding of how computers work, does make it much easier to teach these otherwise very difficult concepts.

There are a number of issues to discuss to help understand the normal function of the brain. The brain has hemispheres, identifiable structures, grey matter, white matter and high speed electrical chemical connections between all of the above. The Hemispheres not only contain the primary thinking cells (the brain’s CPU), they also contain the brain’s hard drive for memory storage.

It is also important to understand the devices in which the brain is stored and transported: the skull, head and shoulders. Further, it is important to appreciate that the brains wiring - its USB connections - originate within the brain and extend out to the limbs, organs and muscles which they control.

The Brain’s Lobes and Structures.

There are two hemispheres to the brain, a left and a right. The old conceptions that they perform separate and distinct functions - the left handling bread and butter activities, math, reading, language - the right being creative, has been largely debunked. Indeed all parts of the brain have multiple communications with other parts of the brain and no area stands alone. Yet the necessity of the two hemispheres to communicate with each other, largely thru the "corpus callosum" is of utmost importance.

If you want more connection with other family members who wait, click here.

 

Contact Attorney Gordon Johnson: 1-800-992-9447

This site is brought to you by the advocates of the Brain Injury Law Group, a community of plaintiff's trial lawyers across the United States united by a common interest in serving the rights of persons with traumatic brain injuries and a common commitment to fully understanding the anatomic, medical and psychological aspects of TBI.