Brain Anatomy Narative

To whom it may concern,

As you may know Johnny Broca Sustained Severe Brain damage 2 nights ago. He was riding in his car while texting his friends  when he had a high-speed head-on collision with a drunk driver going the wrong way on the highway. The drunk driver injuries were fatal but Johnny has survived with severe damage to the left hemisphere of his brain. He has damage to his left Occipital Lobe, left cerebellum, and brain stem. this damage will affect Johnny in the following ways.

The left occipital lobe helps the brain interpret visual input from the eyes such as color, movement, and light. Johnny’s left occipital lobe has been severely damaged. This means that Johnny’s field of vision will have a dramatic decrease, color blindness or loss of the ability to perceive color, hallucinations, and possible blindness or vision loss. This will make it very difficult for Johnny to complete daily tasks, and he will have to go through an intensive recovery program to accustomed him to using other senses more to help him function.

The cerebellum controls balance, coordination, movement, muscle growth, and posture. The damage to Johnny’s Cerebellum is on his left side, and this means that the damage will mostly affect the right side of his body. He will likely not be able to walk or stand up without stumbling or falling. The muscles on his right side may become much weaker than his left side and this can cause joint problems and pain.This means that he will be in a wheelchair for his rehab or possibly the rest of his life.

Lastly, the brainstem is the most important part of Johnny’s brain that was damaged. The brain stem controls basic life functions such as breathing, heartbeat and blood pressure, and transports commands from the brain to the rest of the body. The damage to Johnny’s brainstem  is extreme and he is going to be on some form of life support for a majority of his life. He has trouble maintaining a steady heart rate, breathing without assistance, difficulty swallowing and chewing, inability to digest food, and inability to sleep. His breathing will be assisted by a ventilator, and he will receive nutrition through an I.V. tube in the jugular vein.

I am sorry that Johnny has sustained these severe injuries, and I hope this helps you better understand what these injuries mean for Johnny what treatment will look like.

Sincerely,

      Dr. Wernickel

We have 3d printed a model of your Johnny's brain to help you better understand what the functions of the different sections of his brain, and where the injuries were sustained.

Key

1. Pineal gland: is located behind the third ventricle, helps regulate the body’s internal clock and circadian rhythms by secreting melatonin, has a role in sexual development.
2. Thalamus: serves as a relay station for almost all information that comes and goes to the cortex; it plays a role in pain sensation, attention, alertness, and memory.
3. Brain stem:  the central trunk of the mammalian brain, consisting of the medulla oblongata, pons, and midbrain, and continuing downward to form the spinal cord.
4. Medulla: the inner region of an organ or tissue, especially when distinguishable from the outer region or cortex (as in a kidney, an adrenal gland, or hair)
5. Cerebrum: the principal and most anterior part of the brain in vertebrates, located in the front area of the skull and consisting of two hemispheres, left and right, separated by a fissure. It is responsible for the integration of complex sensory and neural functions and the initiation and coordination of voluntary activity in the body.
6. Cerebellum:the part of the brain at the back of the skull in vertebrates. Its function is to coordinate and regulate muscular activity.
7. Frontal Cortex: in front of the brain, involved in behavior, learning, personality, and voluntary movement.
8. Occipital Lobe: rear lobe, controls the visual part of the brain
9. Left Brain: The left hand side of the human brain, associated with linear and analytical thought.
10. Right Brain: The right hand side of the human brain associated with emotion and creative thoughts.
11. Pons:The part of the brain that links the medulla and the thalamus
12. Hypothalamus: Part of the brain that coordinates the autonomic nervous system and pituitary, body temp, thirst, hunger, and homeostatic system
13. Pituitary Gland:Endocrine gland controls growth, development, and functioning of endocrine glands.
14. Parietal Lobe: Either of the paired lobes of the brain at the top of the head. Receptor of sensory information.
15. Temporal Lobe: One of the four major lobes in the cerebral cortex in brain mammals.
16. Motor Strip: part of brain that controls movements of the body such as walking and writing
17. Putamen: aids in the movement of the limbs(arms, legs)
18. Corpus:  The corpus integrates the two sides of the brain and allows for either side of a part of the brain to communicate to the other side.
19. Hippocampus: part of the limbic system and controlled long term memory processing. For example if your attacked by a dog in your childhood your hippocampus creates fear because of that memory.

Works Cited

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Johnson, Gordon S., Jr. "Brain Stem Injury After Trauma." Traumatic Brain Injury. The Brain Injury Law Group, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

Kinser, Patricia Anne. "Brain Structures and Their Functions." Brain Structures and Their Functions. Bryn Mawr College,Haverford College, 2000. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

Novack, Thomas. "Understanding TBI: Part 2 - Brain Injury Impact on Individuals Functioning." Brain Injury Impact On Individuals Functioning. MSKTC, 2002. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

"Occipital Lobe Brain Injury." Brain and Spinal Cord. BrainAndSpinalCord.org, 2016. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

"Occipital Lobes." Traumatic Brain Injury Resource Guide - Occipital Lobes. Centre for Neuro Skills, 2016. Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

Kandel, E., Schwartz, J., & Jessell, T. Principles of Neural Science. 3rd edition. New York: NY. Elsevier, 1991.

Westmoreland, B. et al. Medical Neurosciences: An Approach to Anatomy, Pathology, and Physiology by Systems and Levels. New York: NY. Little, Brown and Compay, 1994.