Like all things mortal, the fragile contents of the cranium are subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; disease and trauma can ravage the marvelous organ that regulates our behavior and generates our consciousness. Yet loss of function is not always permanent. Galen gave testimony to this almost two millennia ago when he pronounced with simple elegance, "I have seen a wounded brain heal." In this final chapter, we briefly examine some of the ways in which damage affects the brain. We then turn to a consideration of the factors affecting recovery of function and the neural mechanisms underlying that recovery. Finally, we look at perhaps the most exciting and fruitful application of our developing knowledge of brain-behavior relationships: therapeutic approaches to the consequences of brain lesions. Great progress is being made in this area, and no one could wish for a more bountiful yield of our knowledge than that it help suffering individuals. |
2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education