You probably know that the human brain is divided into right and left hemispheres. You also probably know that these hemispheres have certain regular functions (lateralisation) —for example, language centres are in the left hemisphere and the motor cortex in one hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body.
But what happens to someone who is missing half of their brain? There have been many case studies of individuals who have experienced catastrophic loss of brain areas (through an accident or damage from birth). One case reported in 2009 focused on a young German girl. When she was three she had some slight seizures and an MRI scan was used to look at her brain. Doctors discovered that the right hemisphere of her brain was missing — it had simply failed to develop before she was born. She hadn’t shown any abnormality in her behaviour and has been described as ‘witty, charming and intelligent’.
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