Evening star., 1950-01-13
Injury to Brain Causes
Loss of SeIf-Orientution
Wounded German Lacks Sense of
Depth and Own Position in Space
By Thomas r. Henry

By Thomas X. Henry
The weird experience Of being lost in space
is that of a German veteran who was
wounded in the brain and whose case has
just been reported.
Described in the Quarterly Review Of Psy-
chiatry and Neurology issued here, this
unique case apparently localizes the ability
to place ones self in familiar surroundings
in tiny area buried deep in the brain, the
so-called cyrus cinguli. Hitherto this area
has been associated with the sense of smell.
and is very ancient development In the
evolution of the higher centers of the human
mind.
A pea-sized fragment of metal passed
through the skull behind the left ear, &C
cording to the report. and lodged in about
the center of the brain. The man recovered
from the physical effects rather rapidly and
is entirely sane. But he has lost probably
for a lifetime, "the power to perceive space
relationships" the report says.
1t continues: THE patient is unable to
feel the presence of position in space of his
own body. Everything appears on a two
dimensional plane. At first he could not tell
how far objects were distant from him.
People at different distances appeared simply
larger or smaller but all In the same plane.
When passing behind or before another they
appeared simply to coalesce and separate.
Can't Orient Himself.
Even when the patient with the aid Of
his eyesight and with training became able
to judge the position of outside objects in
space he was unable to appreciate the posi-
ton of his own body in relation to them.
The sense Of direction was entirely lost.
With the aid of practice and training
the patient was able to adjust himself to his
new world with surprising rapidity and
thoroughness Learning to read speak and
write and emotional control seemed to pass
through primitive stage as though he were
a child again, toward his ordinary adult
abilities. But all these reacquired abilities
never reached the stability and perfection
of his prewound development.
'He laboriously acquired compensatory adj
justments which broke down under stress.
He lost his compensation almost entirely on
two occasions-once when the metal frag-
ment was removed from his brain and once
when he was given an intravenous injection
shortly before his discharge from the
hospital"
A new brain geography is resulting from
after r-effectS of war wounds. The greatest
light yet shed on the functions of different
areas on top of the brain came with the
work of French neurologStS working with
wounded soldiers after World War I. With
better techniques more precise OSCILLATIONS
now are possible.
The work is being carried out particularly
in Germany, according to another report in
the Quarterly Review Of Psychiatry and
Neurology.
Among the brain Injury cases studied were
eight with paralysis of one arm and fourteen
with paralysis of one leg. In every case the
defects were found on the side of the brain
opposite the side affected and along line
about half way between the front and center
of the cerebral hemisphere.
Eight Patients Studied.
Eight patients with motor aphasia aftes
brain injuries have been studied. In these
cases limbs are not actually paralyzed but
the victim is unable to use them. The proper
impulse to use an arm or leg cannot get
through from the brain. Here the defects
were found along the same general line, but
close to the temporal lobe Of the brain just
over the ear.
In most of the cases studied, the brain
wounds have been quite superficial, seldom
penetrating much below the surface Of the
cerebral cortex, and the various paralyses
have tended to clear up after few months
The only cases in which there has been
permanent loss of function are those in which
nerve pathways leaving or entering the top
OF the brain were injured.
But IN almost every case. it is reported.
there has been some deterioration of the per-
sonallty OF the victim, in addition to the
specific result Of the wound. All the men
showed loss Of initiative, some degree of
uncontrollable behavior and lack of ade.
quate emotional responses. This leads to
the conclusion that no part Of the brain can
De injured without far-reaching effect on
the mental life Of the Individual