Graff

Does anyone know of any minor brain defects that require neurosurgery to be fixed? Something maybe that causes problems later in life, therefore must be operated on.

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Hodge

If a person has epilepsy and it's really bad, surgeons will crack the cranium and sever the Corpus Callosum, which is the big bundle of fibers between the two hemispheres that allow it to exchange information. For whatever reason, this seems to relieve all the symptoms of epilepsy, although certain functions we consider easy (like seeing a color and then identifying its name) can cause trouble.

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Science

Graff

Hmmm. But if the epiliepsy is really bad, it wouldn't be considered minor, would it But thank you for the idea.

I think I found the one I'm going to use anyways. It actually starts in the heart, but it causes migraines.

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"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell." -- William Strunk Jr.

lisajane

... uh, I'd say that any brain defect that requires neurosurgery is NOT minor.

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mammamaia

just what i was poised to say, lj!

if i knew what you needed this for, i might be able to suggest something, but your question is too broad for a simple answer... do you have a character that needs to be in need of brain surgery for some reason?...

the most 'simple' of all the not-so-simple surgical procedures on the brain would probably be just to relieve pressure from a subdural hematoma [hemorrhage/bruise]... in other words, to drain pooled blood from a minor burst blood vessel that is causing pressure on the brain... that pressure could cause a variety of symptoms, depending on where it's located...

for a glut of info on that, google for 'brain hematoma'...

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Graff

I found a good one that I'm going to use. It's called PFO (Patent foramen ovale). It begins in the heart, but causes bad migranes. So I'll have the character have heart surgery instead.

Thank yuo guys for the help And LJ, that's a very good point

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"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell." -- William Strunk Jr.

river-wind

My Step-Dad had something called an AVM - Arterio-Venous Malformation. Basically, all the arteries and veins in your brain grow together into a mish-mash of tubes, and the blood has a hard time traveling through the area properly.

He had to take anti-seizure medication his whole life, but was able to go to college, become a high-ranking professor, and help prove the theories on electron orbital shells.
It did eventually kill him, but for about 60 years, it didn’t effect his ability to live, work, play, etc. Now adays, they’d have operated to remove the formation, but 50 years ago, it was too risky.


Just in case you still want to go brain-surgery route.

Graff

that's amazing! could it have caused migranes too?

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"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell." -- William Strunk Jr.