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On the Restoration of Function in Diseases of the Brain [Ueber den Wiederersatz der Funktion bei Erkrankungen des Gehirns]. (Monats.f. Psychiat., January, 1906.) Anton, G.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2018

Extract

In this paper, Dr. Anton principally treats of the vicarious action between the cerebrum and the cerebellum. His observations support the experiments of Luciani, who found that after extirpation of the cere bellum, the compensation came from the sensory-motor spheres of the cerebrum. Dr. Anton observes from the experiments of Goltz up to the present day there has been evidence collected to show that after the extirpation of the hemispheres the basal ganglia can take up the lost functions in a surprising measure. This especially holds good with animals of a lower order; Goltz's celebrated dog lived eighteen months after the removal of the cerebrum. Even in man there is a vicarious renewal of function. From the classical experiments of Gudden and from numerous pathological observations, it has been proved that if symmetrical portions of the brain are destroyed there is often increased growth in the opposite hemisphere. Gudden found that by permanently closing up one nostril in a dog, there resulted an increase of the olfactory lobe of the other side. This compensatory power is stronger in the young. Dr. Anton studied the case of a child who could at least stand, and walk with help. The cerebellum had almost disappeared, the cerebrum seemed unimpaired, though it weighed no more than that of a child of three and a half years. There was hypertrophy of the strands of the fillet and of the pyramids in connection with the sensory-motor zone of the hemispheres. These tracts were as large as in a grown man, a proof of the vicarious activity of the motor apparatus of the cerebrum.

Type
Part III.—Epitome of Current Literature
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1906 

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