

“I think I scared myself more than anything, and the doctors didn’t have too much hope, so after a while I had to stop and just believe he would get better, and advocate for what would be best for him.” She spent her days coordinating nursing, therapies, feeding, bathing, and everything else in the living room of their home. It was exhausting, but who else was going to do it? That’s a mother’s job.” In addition to learning information, Melissa became Justin’s primary caretaker. “I had been rushing to find out all of this information on my own while he was in a coma. Recollecting on the first few days of her son’s fight to live, Melissa made it clear she felt like she was fighting just as hard. “Suddenly memories from the day before seemed like they were decades ago,” says Melissa Shuman, who has come to live with the reality of brain injury after her son, Justin, sustained an acquired brain injury (ABI) following an attempt at suicide. Decreased control over left-sided body movements.Loss of “the big picture” type of thinking.Altered creativity and music perception.Left neglect (inattention to the left side of the body).Injuries of the right side of the brain can cause: Decreased control over right-sided body movements.Catastrophic reactions (depression, anxiety).Difficulties in speaking or verbal output (expressive language).Difficulties understanding language (receptive language).Injuries of the left side of the brain can cause: The traits of each side are detailed below: Left Side Traits Each side is responsible for different functions, and general patterns of dysfunction may occur depending on the side of the brain sustaining an injury. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, while the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body. If you split the brain down the middle into two equally-sized parts, they are not the same and do not carry the same functions. The functional sections (lobes) of the brain are also categorized by side – the right side and the left side. Individuals who have injured their parietal lobes may have trouble with their five primary senses.Īn injury to the cerebellum may affect balance, movement, and coordination.Īn injury to one’s occipital lobes may lead to trouble seeing or perceiving the size and shape of objects. Identification of Sizes, Shapes, Colors.Understanding Language (Receptive Language)Īn injury to the temporal lobes may lead individuals to demonstrate difficulty with communication or memory.The brain stem controls the body’s involuntary functions that are essential for survival, such as breathing and heart rate. The brain is divided into functional sections, called lobes:Įach lobe has an important and specific function, detailed below.Īn injury to the frontal lobes may affect an individual’s ability to control emotions, impulses, and behavior or may cause difficulty recalling events or speaking. Every brain is unique, ever-changing, and extremely sensitive to its environment. It is responsible for our ability to speak, to process and remember information, make decisions, and feel emotions. It coordinates and regulates our breathing, blood circulation, and heart rate. It controls our ability to balance, walk, talk, and eat. The brain is made up of many parts, each with a specific and important function. Most of the actual information processing in the brain takes place in the cerebral cortex.The human brain is magnificent and complex. The telencephalon contains the largest part of the brain, the cerebrum. The diencephalon contains structures such as the thalamus and hypothalamus which are responsible for such functions as motor control, relaying sensory information, and controlling autonomic functions. There are two major divisions of forebrain: the diencephalon and the telencephalon. The forebrain is the division of the brain that is responsible for a variety of functions including receiving and processing sensory information, thinking, perceiving, producing and understanding language, and controlling motor function. Both the midbrain and the hindbrain make up the brainstem.

The hindbrain is associated with balance and equilibrium and the coordination of movement along with autonomic functions like our breathing and our heart rate. The hindbrain contains both the metencephalon and the myelencephalon.It is associated with motor functions and auditory and visual responses. The midbrain, also called the mesencephalon, connects the hindbrain and the forebrain.The forebrain is responsible for a number of functions related to thinking, perceiving, and evaluating sensory information. The forebrain has two major parts called the diencephalon and the telencephalon.The forebrain, the midbrain, and the hindbrain are the three main parts of the brain.
