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LAB 10 - Vicarious Brain Surgery:  Surgeon 3

 

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The purpose of this lab was to use the surgeon 3 programs and act as a neurologist and brain surgeon. The ambulance brings patients in, and your job is to diagnose their condition by performing a set of neurological tests on them.

Neurological Test Ran on the Patient

brain1.gif (43653 bytes) Proding the patient with needles to test for sensation - loss of sensation on one side indicates possible damage to the opposite side of the brain because of decussation.

brain1.gif (43653 bytes) The patient was asked to pronounce the word "Alice" held up on a card - absence of or slurred speech indicates possible damage to language centers on the left side of brain.

brain1.gif (43653 bytes) Shining light into the patient’s eye to test for loss of pupil reflex - loss of pupil reflex indicates damage to area of brain performing this task.

brain1.gif (43653 bytes) Asking the patient to track an object you move from side to side in front of them for failure of eye tracking movements - indicates damage to this circuit.

brain1.gif (43653 bytes) Lifting appendages (arms and legs) and letting them fall - rapid drop indicates damage to brain areas on the opposite side of the brain, which controls skeletal muscle contraction –paralysis.

brain1.gif (43653 bytes) Lastly, testing for elbow and knee reflexes with a hammer for absence of or exaggeration of reflex - indicate damage to opposite side of brain or severance of peripheral nerves.

Here is the results of the neurological tests ran on my patient. Based of the test results, I predicted that there was damage to the brain due to the fact that there was no response (paralysis) of skeletal muscle contraction, and it was off to the operating room for this unfortunate person.

 

The first step was to cut into the patient’s skull in order to reach the area of the brain that was damaged. While doing this it is important to monitor the patients vital signs.

skull.jpg (6473 bytes) Unfortunately my patient did not make it through the operation. Here is the documentation of the reward I got for my expertise in performing this surgery!

Watch a brain movie

ZOOLOGY 310 GUIDE TO VICARIOUS BRAIN SURGERY