Traumatic Brain Injuries: When Good Brains Go Bad

In this episode of Impolite Society, Lara and Rachel delve into the complexities and mysteries of the human brain. Starting with traumatic brain injuries, they explore how incidents like Phineas Gage's railroad accident reveal the brain's impact on personality and behavior. 

From there we unpack various brain anomalies, including hemispatial neglect, blindsight, and cases like Henry Molaison’s that offer a fascinating look at how brain injuries can radically alter one's experience of reality. 

Perfect for curious minds, we're combining humor and research into a wormhole of an episode about the most complicated organ in the human body.

Got your own thoughts? Text them to Impolite Society!

Text Rachel and Laura or email us at [e-mail]. Visit our website for info about the show and your hosts.

Episode Transcript

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (00:03):
The human brain is a complex network
of billions of neurons, eachinterconnected, each vital, but
this extraordinary organ can bequite delicate and your whole
world could change in aninstant.
Traumatic brain injuries cansteal away cognitive functions,
motor skills, and even our verysense of self.

(00:25):
That squishy gray matter thatkeeps us alive, conscious, and
occasionally insane is acomplicated network that works
together in ways we have onlybegun to understand.
Today, we're noodling on ournoodles and exploring the many
ways it can all go terriblywrong and amazingly right.
That's what you're in for todayon Impolite Society.

(01:23):
welcome back to ImpoliteSociety.
I am Lara.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (01:28):
And I'm Rachel.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (01:30):
Did you know, Rachel, that you have an
extraordinary machine on youright now?

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (01:36):
Uh, I think the Extraordinary
Machine was actually my nicknamein college.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (01:41):
Ooh, like a sex machine?

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (01:48):
Natty Lights machine.
or the other.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (01:52):
But no, it's not a sex machine.
It's not a Natty Light machine,and it's not even your phone.
You know, that seems to bewelded into everyone's person
nowadays.
Pinging you until you lose yourfucking mind with all the
blings, the bops, the boops.
I hate phones.
And, I'm really over technologyright now.

(02:12):
Anyway, no, it is your brainthat I'm talking about, and it
is one crazy little piece ofengineering.
So I want to let you know whatsparked this episode.
And this was a story that I hadheard way back in college psych
class.
Was about a man who had thisreally horrific accident and
kind of what happened to himafterwards.

(02:34):
And I thought, okay, I betthere's enough people out there
to make a gross and Pretty easyepisode about damage to the
brain.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (02:44):
you know, how many different brain
splatters, right?
That was the original thought,just different brain splatters.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (02:52):
but as I got to researching and looking
at these stories, I found myselfless and less interested in that
gore factor and more and moreinto these thinkers that we got
up there because they are justamazing and they're

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (03:10):
If you think about it too hard
though, it makes your head hurt.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (03:13):
Truly, truly.
And, and, but it's also a littleterrifying, right?
Is your whole self is in therein your skull wobbling around in
some cerebro spinal fluid, justone blow away from total
devastation.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (03:29):
And what's even more terrifying is
that everyone you love, whatmakes them them, is in the same
situation teetering on theknife's edge, man.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (03:40):
Yeah.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_ (03:41):
Especially when they're little

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (03:42):
Oh God.
And they're soft, soft skulls.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (03:45):
the shell isn't even fully there
yet.
And they want to die so badly.
They try so

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (03:52):
it is the human condition, man.
It's a, it's a rough ride to beon.
So instead of a gross outepisode about the horrible and
gory brain injuries that we cando, this is, this is more of an
admiration episode about justthe brain is crazy and the human

(04:13):
brain can go haywire in so manyways.
I mean.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (04:17):
I think that's evident by many of
our topics.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (04:21):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, and I also call back to thetechnology and social media that
I reference because I feel likewe are just all losing our
goddamn minds lately.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (04:30):
I don't know.
I think I am, uh, the most saneI've ever been, so

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (04:34):
Well, kudos to you because you might
be the only one.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (04:37):
That's just called delusion, right?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (04:41):
But there are more tactile ways for
everything upstairs to gohorribly, horribly wrong.
And some very creative ways thatyou and your brain manages to,
uh, emerge on the other side.
And,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_ (05:02):
condition, man, right?
We emerge on the other side.
I didn't even get into all thatDonner's party talk on the, uh,
on the little chit chat we had.
Thank you.
I mean, they killed a bear! Justa bunch of starving people out
in the western frontier in themiddle of winter killed a
grizzly bear.
How?
I don't know.
Humans, we find a way.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (05:20):
We endure.
It's what we do.
We find a way.
That's a, that's what IanMalcolm's quote should have
been.
Not life finds a way.
Humans, we find a way.
And, in this research, I kind ofstumbled upon a little
subculture of people on theinternet, which was victims of
TBI's traumatic brain injuries,and a traumatic brain injury is

(05:44):
what it's called.
I think it's kind of selfexplanatory, but when external
forces like a blow to the head,someone bashing you with a heavy
object, whatever it is, causessevere damage to your brain.
And even if somebody hasrecovered from their brain
injury with extensive therapy,like speech therapy, physical

(06:05):
therapy, any kind of therapy youcan think of to get your body
working again, they could befunctioning, but at the same
time living with terrible sideeffects like acute memory loss,
severe headaches, emotionalregulation issues, behavioral
issues, all kinds of reallyterrible life altering shit.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (06:24):
Uh, does rampant TikTok use count as
a TBI?
Because I feel like I have allthose same symptoms.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (06:32):
No, definitely not the same because,
I mean, these people, they'rereally suffering and it's sad.
They're,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (06:39):
not to make light of them.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (06:40):
yeah, they're, there are all these
things that modern

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (06:44):
have behavior issues, for sure.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (06:48):
all these things that modern
medicine and doctors can'treally help them with, these
doctors.
They can do therapies, but whenit comes to how the brain
functions and how it regulatesthemselves, there's not much
that they can do.
They can offer themantidepressants, you know, talk
therapy, coping mechanisms, buton the whole, it's this thing of

(07:08):
either your brain is going toget better over time or it
won't.
And there isn't a good way tosay which it's going to be.
Or when it's going to be.
And that mystery of what thebrain does and on what timeline
that it does it is how we getpeople waking up from comas for

(07:28):
after 20 years or come somecrazy shit like that.
It's just, no one knows.
It's a mystery up there in theold noggin and there's people
that are suffering.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (07:38):
Well, I kind of like that, though.
Not the suffering, but that it'sa mystery, right?
I feel like we need to have somemysterious thing.
Whatever sprinkle of electricityin our brains that makes us
human, I don't think that's oursto understand.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (07:50):
Oh, I mean, you're going to have a lot
of mystery then in this episode,you're going to enjoy this
because a lot of this

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (07:57):
Good, good, good.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (07:58):
really weird and adoy, the brain, it's
complicated.
Nobody on earth is going to tellyou this is how the brain works.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (08:09):
Right?
And that makes sense becauseit's a brain studying the brain.
So there's no way for the brainto understand itself,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (08:17):
can't transcend, right?

rachel_2_12-19-202 (08:20):
synchronous, right?
That if it did, it would createthis vacuum that would open a
wormhole that swallows theuniverse.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (08:28):
It's a black hole in your mind.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (08:30):
Yeah, in the universe.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (08:32):
you should, if we can understand how
like a kidney works or a liverworks, you know, in theory, we
should be able to do the samething with a brain, but no,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (08:43):
But can a kidney understand how a
kidney works?
That's the question.
Ha ha ha!

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (08:49):
mean, that's actually a fair point.
That's a fair counterpoint.
And, and so mighty podcastersthat we may be, I'm not going to
be able to tell you this eitherabout how the human brain works,
but I am going to give you abasic rundown of the regions of
the brain, what they do, andsome of the stories that I think
just by hearing them is going togive you an idea of how crazy,

(09:13):
complicated, unknowable, andabsolutely bizarre the human
brain is.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (09:19):
Let

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (09:19):
So let's kind of get an idea of what is
going on in our think tanks byexploring the four basic regions
of the brain.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (09:29):
I love this.
I love this.
I love how I feel like in theyear end recap.
We were like, we're going tostay light.
We're not going to dig in theweeds.
And here we go.
Laura's going to teach us.
We are going to teach you howthe human brain works.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (09:42):
No, I just told you I'm not.
I'm not going to do that because

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (09:45):
She's got the answers and I got the
quips and that's why we make apodcast.
Let's go.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (09:52):
Fuck you.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (09:52):
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (09:56):
So it's not simple, but each Of these
four sections or lobes that I'mgoing to talk to you about, they
have a thousand substructures.
So it's, there's your street,there's your zip code, there's
your county, and your state.
So just keep that in mind thatthe, the locations I'm talking
about, I'm talking about brainstates.

(10:16):
There are so much more, so manyother things in there.
And if you want to know more, Goto medical school, cause that's
the only way

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (10:24):
brain state, in the middle of my lobe.
My That kind of vibe.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (10:33):
Starting in the front.
Frontal lobes.
Clever name, right?
So, these are located rightbehind your forehead.
And that thick ass skulldesigned to protect these
babies.
And this is the largest lobe inthe brain.
And makes up most of ourcerebral cortex.
Which, I'm going to tell you Isthe brainiest part of our brain.

(10:57):
So

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (10:58):
The most brainy.
It tracks.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (11:02):
the cerebral cortex is all that
wrinkly bit that you see in yourHalloween jello mold.
Right.
You know, the, the little, yeah,the curves that is your cerebral
cortex is the outer part of ourbrain.
And that is what makes humansseem human and our cerebral You
know what?
I'm just going to call it CC.

(11:24):
Our CC, cute little nickname,Our CC is more developed than in
animals and that gives us theability to really think our way
out of shit that animals can't.
Like the Donner Party killing agrizzly bear in the middle of
winter without proper weapons.
Like, these are the things thatwe can do.
And the frontal lobes areresponsible for a lot of things.

(11:45):
Just some examples.
Executive function, so planning,organizing, self monitoring, all
that kind of stuff.
Behavioral and emotionalcontrol.
Regulating emotions, moods,reading the emotions of others,
that, um, social aspect.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (12:00):
So it seems like a lot of the
things that people struggle withthese days.
Mm

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (12:05):
our frontal lobes are falling out of
the front of our face.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (12:08):
hmm.

lb_2_12-19-2024_21094 (12:08):
Language, expressive language, speech
production, and decision making,so making decisions and solving
problems.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (12:16):
So basically, just a few minor
things that separate us from theanimals, right?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (12:22):
Just a few minor things.
Uh, and you're right,'cause it'spretty fucking important.
This is often described as thearea of the brain that holds
your personality.
This is the section of the brainthat responsible for all the
day-to-day thoughts that youhave.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (12:39):
And this is weird that you mention
this because like when I thinkabout it, my thoughts are like
right behind my forehead.
Like that's where my thoughtsare.
Did you feel your thoughts inyour brain?
Is that a normal thing?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (12:50):
I don't, but I know tension headaches
occur and it's usually rightthere.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (12:54):
So like your internal monologue or
whatever, it's not like youdon't feel it like just right
here.
Like my head's huge.
Like I'm not thinking from theback.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (13:02):
I've never thought about it, about
where it's coming from.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (13:06):
I'm

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (13:06):
mean, but you absolutely are, you're
here, like if you're having likethat internal monologue, that is
absolutely where it is, in thefront.
There you go, there you go.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (13:16):
with my body.
Give me a wellness channel onInstagram.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (13:21):
You're gonna teach the rest of us how
to do it.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (13:23):
Open the chakras!

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (13:25):
But yeah, I do.
I think that's weird, but I alsothink it's cool.
Just like everything else withthe brain! So, if you can
imagine the importance of that,you can think of when things go
wrong here, they go prettyfucking wrong.
And to illustrate this point,let's get into the story, the
story that kicked podcast, whichwas Phineas Gage.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (13:47):
What are we gonna do today?
That's Phineas and Ferb, sorry.
I'm sorry.
Did you get that or was thatjust No, okay, never mind.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (13:58):
In Vermont, USA, Phineas Gage was a
25 year old railroad foreman.
His job was to clear rocks forthe new rail lines by use of
explosives, and Mr.
Gage was about to have a verybad day at work.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (14:17):
Was his boss gonna schedule a last
minute meeting on his calendarthat was just called chat?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (14:23):
No.
No, it was way worse than thatbecause that's what that sounds
like now, right?
A very bad day at work.
That's what that sounds like.
Oh, no, no, no.
Times have changed.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (14:36):
one they're just gonna rearrange
his, um, brain a little

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (14:39):
Yeah, exactly.
So the process of clearing rockat this time, it was to drill a
hole into the rock, put in anexplosive charge, pack the hole
with sand and that directs theblast, right?
Light the fuse and step far, faraway.
To do the sand packing, onewould use a tamping rod, which

(15:01):
is a large metal rod that wasabout 10 to 15 pounds and 3 feet
long.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (15:09):
So basically when they designed it
they thought, Hmm.
What tool can we create thatwould make the best, most deadly
projectile?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (15:19):
Kind

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (15:19):
do that!

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (15:20):
they needed it to be heavy, right,
because it's got to get the sanddown in there and it needed to
be long enough to go far, but,but yes, you're, you're
completely right.
Because on this very bad day atwork, the tamping rod that
Phineas was using created aspark.
It set off the chargeprematurely.
Poor Gage.
He was right above it.

(15:41):
The explosion drove the rod upout of the hole.
And right into his head.
My notes, Rachel, I have animage of exactly where it
landed.
Can you describe what you seefor the listener?

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (15:57):
So I'm seeing a depiction here that
shows a long metal rod goinginto a skull in, you know, the
spot that you would put yourcontour, right?
You're going to put your contour

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (16:09):
Right below the

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (16:10):
your cheekbone.
in the hollow of your cheek.
So it's entering going behindthe eye and it's coming out the
top of the skull where amillennial might try to put
their slightly off center centerpart.
that's where exactly mine iswhere it's not centered, just a
little bit off to the side andthat's where it's popping up at

(16:33):
the crown of his head.
And, as you can imagine, ifyou've had a rod exploded
through your head, there's not aperfect cut.
This, we're not, we're not, thisisn't a hole punch,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (16:44):
Yeah, it didn't like make a perfect hole
and poof.
Mm hmm.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (16:47):
Mm hmm.
There is some collateral damage,unfortunately.
It looks like the top of hishead has a lot of cracks, if
those aren't just the normalkind of seams that

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (16:56):
are not.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (16:57):
And, uh, you know, a couple, a couple
of those, and then just, just ahole, and it looks like, um, I'm
trying to think of a goodanalogy for this.
Like, um, like a pie crust,right?
When it's got a nice egg glazeon it.
Mmm, now I'm hungry.
Mm hmm.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (17:14):
Yeah.
Well, you're hungry for brains.
Uh, but Phineas, despite theseterrible injuries, he lived.
And in fact,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (17:24):
is shocking.
Did it go Okay, I had to ask,because I didn't see it in the
notes.
Did it go all the way through,or did they have to pull it

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (17:30):
yes, it went all the way through.
It went into his cheekbonebehind his eyeball, out of the
top of his head

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (17:36):
oh, okay, because I was gonna I
thought there was you said therewas a Y part at the end.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (17:38):
Nope, mm so, he, not only did he live,
right after the accident, heseemed like he was okay.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (17:48):
Oh god,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (17:49):
he was conscious.
He was bleeding, but herecognized his friends.
He called them by their name.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (17:56):
He's like cracking jokes.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (17:58):
Not quite, but he was hauled off the
site in an ox cart, cared for byhis family doctor, Mr.
Harlow.
Dr.
Harlow, sorry.
And he got a really nastyinfection from, again, the rod
shoved

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (18:14):
Yeah, I'm, I'm, the, this, he's
probably got all his poop handsall over it, all, I mean, they
were not sanitary.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (18:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, uh, and that took
him five weeks to recover fromthe infection, but after that,
he was recovered.
He was blind in his left eye andhe had some facial weakness on
that side.
You know, can't do a full smile,can't really control the, the
eyeball, but he was going tolive.

(18:40):
And that would be interestingenough that someone could
survive this and be normal.
But That's not why PhineasGage's case is world famous.
He is probably the most famousneurological patient of all time
because after this patient, asthey say, Gage was no longer
Gage.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (19:00):
And that in itself is kind of a
tragedy, because you've got apicture of him in here right
now, and I'm gonna be so honest.
Smash.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (19:12):
He is! He I was like 25 year old, like,
you know, railroad tamper.
tampin Oh God, he's got he'sgotta have muscles.
Yeah!

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21 (19:22):
hairline on him.
That's a shame.
It was not passed on.
Mm.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (19:27):
truly, because after he physically
recovered, his physician, Dr.
Harlow, he knew him prior to theaccident.
He started taking extensivenotes on Gage's personality
changes, and I'm going to readthe quotes because I can't
summarize these any better than,than Dr.
Harlow did.
He remembers past eventscorrectly as well as before the

(19:47):
injury.
Intellectual manifestations arefeeble.
So he dumb, uh, and he is Beingexceedingly capricious and
childish, but with a will asindomitable as ever, he's
particularly obstinate will notyield to restraint when it
conflicts with his desires.
Harlow also noted that Gage'semployers, they had thought of

(20:11):
him as a very capable foreman,but considered the change in his
mind so marked that they couldnot give him his place again.
So he lost his job, not becausehe could not physically work,
but because of his temperament.
He is fitful, irreverent,Indulging at times in the
grossest profanity, which wasnot previously his custom.

(20:33):
Impatient of restraint or advicewhen it conflicts with his
desires.
A child in intellectual capacityand manifestations, he has the
animal passions of a strong man.
Dot, dot, dot.
That's just that ominous orlike, what does that mean?
Dr.
Harlow?

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (20:53):
ooh, he likes his animal passions
maybe, per

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (20:56):
Uh, it sounds like to me that he maybe
almost raped somebody.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (21:00):
Oh, that's fair,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (21:01):
That's how I read

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (21:02):
fair.
Yeah, I read about himindependently and he like lacked
a lot of, um, Inhibitions,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (21:08):
I think I remember hearing something
about him peeing like publicly.
Yeah.
Like in a corner or something.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (21:14):
that's what I think of when I think of
old Gage.
And I think it's an importantquestion to ask.
Was all of this because of theRod, or did Homeboy just happen
to discover Andrew Tate's stylepodcast around the same time?
Because maybe his anti socialpersonality is really just alpha
male

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (21:32):
You know, the parallels there are
disturbing and.
Noted.
Do you know what I mean?

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (21:42):
Yeah, it's just like, you could spend
hours and hours digesting thiscontent, or we could just give
you a quick rod to the brain,guys.
Like, your choice, your choice.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (21:50):
frontal lobe damage and you can become
an alpha male ASAP.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21 (21:54):
Exactly.
I say, let's sign them up forit.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (21:58):
So this was the first case where
medicine could definitively saythat a brain injury changed
someone's personality.
And in the mid 1800s, that was abig deal.
The, the brain was a mystery atthe time.
They knew it was important, butnot really how it worked pretty
much at all.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (22:16):
And that makes sense, cause like,
they were just coming tounderstand electricity as a
whole, right?
And that's kind of important tohow the whole shrigamarole up
there works, as I understand it.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (22:28):
Yeah.
And, and this was a time wherephrenology was still a thing.
Do you know what

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (22:33):
Yes, a criminal skull shape.
I think that's a 30 Rockreference somewhere, right?
They make a joke about

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (22:41):
I do criminal shape, but I don't know
about, I guess.
Yeah.
Phrenology, I guess falls in thesame thing, but I know
phrenology is like a, like kindof like fortune telling, Like
they feel the lumps on yourskull and tell you about your
personality.
So it, it's just nonsense.
And Gage's case really beganthis entire field of brain
science.
This direct correlation betweenstructural damage to the brain

(23:05):
and personality was completelyrevolutionary.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (23:09):
Which is a step up from as we were
talking where they thought justbeing pretty or hot made you a
good person.
Which maybe that's what affectedGage as he got less hot.
So,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (23:18):
Could be,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (23:19):
prove it wrong.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (23:21):
Well, and also I think of, like, a
traumatic injury, even if, like,nothing was changed in your
brain, right?
You are changed! Yeah, but IYeah,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (23:31):
but everybody in 1848 had trauma,
there was not a non traumatizedperson to be seen.
This was two years after theDonner Party, mind you, so.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (23:39):
There you

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (23:40):
I'm just gonna shanghai, I don't
even know where that referencecomes from, I'm just gonna take
over this whole podcast and makeit about the Donner Party.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (23:47):
Let's do one.
I'm, I'm here for it.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (23:49):
I was going to, but it's a little
bleak.
I think only a few of the kidsgot eaten, but a lot of the
adults got eaten.
And I was going to do just darkrealities of wagon trains in
general, but guess who mostlydies on the regular ones is
children and women.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (24:03):
Children make sense, but I feel like
women have more longevity.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (24:06):
Oh, they survived the Donner party
better because women are betterin intense survival situations
in general because we haveslower metabolisms, which is why
we're all so fat.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (24:16):
Mm hmm.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (24:19):
Just kidding.
We're survivors.
We're built to survive.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (24:22):
Built different.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (24:23):
Yeah, we're built for tough.
That's why they call me theExtraordinary Machine, baby.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (24:31):
You sound like the Macho Randy Man
Savage or whatever.
Okay.
We're really getting off.
Okay.
All

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (24:38):
Yeah, we got a lot of brain to cover
still.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (24:40):
do.
We do.
Okay.
Back to Gage.
So, he spent some time as afreak show attraction for P.
T.
Barnum.
He's traveling around with histamping

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (24:49):
for him.
Get that bag.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (24:51):
Yeah.
they think that he actuallyeventually recovered kind of
some of his, his old personalityand became a new kind of normal
because he did manage to holddown a pretty steady job as a
stagecoach driver for years,which apparently would have
required a fair amount of,forward thinking and planning.
Exactly.
Uh, but no one really knows forsure.

(25:12):
Record keeping from 200 yearsago is shitty.
died 12 years after his accidentfrom seizures that undoubtedly
were caused by the accident.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (25:23):
Yeah, something about an iron rod
through the head doesn't reallyscream longevity.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (25:28):
Truly.
And after he died, uh, hisdoctor, Dr.
Harlow was bequeathed.
That's the word they use.
I don't know what that meant.
Did they ask him?
I don't know.
but he got his skull and tampingiron and those items, they are
still on display at the WarrenAnatomical Museum.
At Harvard in Boston,Massachusetts,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (25:49):
You know, I like the idea of
bequeathing other people's bodyparts.
Um, I think that that is a solidthing to do.
So Laura, I am going to bequeathyour left coccyx.
Nope.
Just your one coccyx.
you, only got the

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (26:03):
you only have the one I was gonna say,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (26:04):
I changed

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (26:05):
you only have the

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (26:07):
I didn't update my notes.
I'm gonna bequeath your coccyxto the satanic temple because I
know how much you love satanist.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (26:16):
Oh, true.
Uh, well.

rachel_2_12-19-2024 (26:19):
Originally, I had weenus, but you can't
donate it

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (26:22):
It's floppy.
You can't.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (26:24):
well, yeah, it would disintegrate.
I thought a weenus was a bone.
What do I know?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (26:28):
No, it's just the tip of your ulna.
Well, yeah, the weenus is justskin, but

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (26:35):
I learned that because that's the
kind of effort I put into thesenotes.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (26:39):
A plus.
A plus, Rachel.
All right.
So what I find interesting aboutthese findings, these things
that happened with Gage, we seethem today.
There's a ton of serial killers,other violent offenders.
They are found usually to haveexperienced some kind of frontal
lobe damage in their lives.
That frontal lobe, it's prettyfreaking important in making

(27:01):
humans human.
So this is like the first timethat we really learned that.
On to the next lobe of your big,sexy brain.
That is the parietal lobe.
No, you gotta go a little bitfarther back.
So it sits behind your frontallobe, and is kind of above your
ears.
Yeah, right where your headphonethings are.
And this is your sensoryprocessing headquarters.

(27:24):
Touch, taste, pain.
All the things that your sensesgather.
This is where your brain takesin information and makes sense
of the world around you.
How could this go wrong?
You may ask.
Well, in about a million ways,but I'm going to tell you about
a really crazy one hemispatialneglect

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (27:44):
Yeah, how could it go wrong?
I mean, it seems very haphazardthat any of this exists in
general, so it just like, it's amiracle that it works at all.
The fact that most people turnout normal and credible.
But the fact that you saidneglect in there hap, hap, has,
what is it?

lb_2_12-19-2024_21 (28:01):
Hemispatial.

rachel_2_12-19-2024 (28:03):
Hemispatial neglect.
Now, this sounds like somethingelse I'm supposed to be taking
care of.
Like neglect.
I'm supposed to be doingsomething.
Um, because I'm probably notdoing it and now I'm going to be
anxious about

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (28:14):
no, you're not neglecting anything.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (28:16):
I'm not neglecting my hemispatial.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (28:18):
No, you are not.
And you would, you would know.
Okay.
So this one, it's hard toexplain.
Bear with me.
I had to watch a few videos toreally grasp how this works.
Your brain is split intohemispheres, basically left and
right sides of your brain whenit comes to vision, they control
the opposite side.
So your right side of the brain.
processes vision from your lefteye, vice versa.

(28:41):
And you can really see this inaction with brain injuries to
the parietal lobe because damageto your right side of the brain
will affect your left side ofvision and perception.
Same thing on the other side, soit's like backwards.
And so some people who havedamage to the parietal lobe,
usually that comes from astroke, which is not a traumatic

(29:02):
brain injury, it's an acquiredbrain injury, they have a
complete lack of perception onone side of their body.
And I don't mean that they can'tsee it or feel it or hear it.
I mean, it just doesn't exist.
People, objects, sensations,whatever.
It's like it's not there.
They, they don't even know it'snot there.

(29:26):
It's not like losing vision onone side.
Cause if you lose vision on oneside, you'll know that there's a
gap.
And you just think, Oh, well Ican just turn my head and expand
my field of vision so I can seeon the left.
Exactly.
It's not the case withhemispatial neglect.
It is just gone.

(29:48):
Out of mind, out of sight.
One side of the world doesn'texist.
So food on one side of a platedoesn't get eaten.
They only shave or put makeup onone side of their face.
Because in their mind, theydon't exist.
The other side just doesn'texist.
They can't draw properly.
I put some stuff in the, thenotes in terms of like, what
they try to copy.

(30:08):
They can draw half of a clock,half of a face.
They can't even conceptualizethe other side of that thing.
It's their imagination doesn'teven exist on that side.
It's just gone.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (30:24):
And you know what?
Is it possible to have thislike, in a migrating sense?
Cause this sounds a lot like myhusband whenever he's trying to
find something.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (30:31):
That's just males.
ha ha ha

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (30:33):
That's like my yuck yuck joke.
Oh, husbands!

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (30:36):
Oh yeah, no respect, no respect.
Ha ha ha

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (30:39):
that's the level I've reached.
Ha ha ha!

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (30:42):
So what's even more bizarre, I
think, than just missing half ofyour world is the fact that they
really don't miss it.
They don't describe it topeople, or they don't even
really think there's a problem.
When they're pressed to describeit, they don't know how to, how
to, Talk about it because it'slike trying to describe
something you've never seen ornever even thought of.

(31:04):
Of course you don't miss it.
It doesn't exist to you.
You can't imagine what it wouldbe like to be there.
It, it's not about sight orsensation.
It's about the representation ofthe world in your brain is just
gone.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (31:22):
You know, it makes you wonder what
is happening all around us rightnow that we're just not
perceiving?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (31:30):
A part of your brain?
Yeah, could be.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2 (31:34):
happening and our brain is just like Nope,
not in my reality,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (31:37):
Totally! The implications of all of these
things, like when you reallylike dig into them and like
think about it in an abstractway, you're like, holy shit!
And,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (31:51):
and then you open a wormhole and
you, like, get sucked in And thereality is over.
Sorry, I got too close.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (31:58):
These people, they're trying to
retrain their brains to look forit, but it's hard.
It's like anything you have tolearn from the beginning.
Yeah, you have to do it likeyou're a child.
And, and they will often neverget over that bias for a one
side.
And I just think that's such acrazy way to live.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (32:17):
could you?
How could you teach somebodysomething that they don't know
exists?
It'd be like, all of a sudden,getting a new sense.
And, like, imagine that sounddidn't exist in your world.
And now, you wanna learn how tohear, I'm gonna teach you how to
hear.
I'm gonna teach you how to hear.
Okay, all you gotta do, you justgotta listen.
Listen for sounds.
And you're like, oh, what's asound?
Um, so shit, I didn't get thatfar in my manual.

(32:41):
You just hear them.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (32:42):
Yeah.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (32:43):
How are we talking right now if you
can't hear?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (32:47):
And they're like, I don't know, as

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (32:49):
I think your information is just
being telepathically beamed intomy head.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (32:52):
far as they're concerned, yes, you're
getting it.
I'm happy to see that you'regetting like the, the insanity
that this is kind of likeramping up.
Okay.
Next one, occipital lobe.
This is the back of your brain,right above your cerebellum.
And that's that big wrinklything that you see in brain
diagrams.
We'll get to that later, but sothe occipital is actually our

(33:14):
smallest lobe of the brain,which is funny to me because
we're such sight based creaturesand yet it's, it's very small
and it is where it vision isprocessed.
So anything having to do withsight, visual perception, color,
form, motion.
Damage to this area can resultin blindness, either total
blindness or partial blindness,visual inattention, which is

(33:38):
kind of like what I talked aboutwith hemispatial neglect, but
not totally, spatial analysis,facial recognition, and a lot
more.
But one of the most interestingthings that can happen if this
area is damaged, is what iscalled blindsight.
And this is what it's calledwhen someone who is actually
blind can see.

(34:00):
They're just not conscious thatthey can see.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (34:03):
So what I'm hearing is blind people
are faking it?
Is that correct?
Uh, cause I knew it! No, justkidding.
But seriously, like, would theyflinch if I threw something at
them?
Because like, I know certainreflexes are processed in
different parts of the brain.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (34:20):
Bingo.
You've nailed some of it.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (34:23):
Woo, give me a degree in neurology,
baby.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (34:27):
in brain, brain degree.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (34:29):
I'm Dr.
Brain.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (34:32):
So, all right, buckle up a little bit
for some bummer index shit.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210 (34:36):
Always.
Macaque.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (34:38):
was discovered through animal
experimentation in the 60s.
Doctors were slicing out piecesof macaque monkey brains, kind
of just to see what wouldhappen.
And,

rachel_2_12-19-2024 (34:48):
sanctioned, you know.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (34:49):
yeah, and a subject that they named
Helen.
Also aside, why do they give himnames?
This is just gross.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (34:57):
should be subject A,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (34:58):
Yeah, yeah, something like that.
Anyway, um, she had her entireoccipital lobe removed.
She was completely blindedbecause she was missing the part
of her brain that wasresponsible for sight.
But, they noticed under certainconditions, Helen seemed like
she could see.
So her pupils would dilate inbright lights.

(35:18):
She would blink when items camenear her eyes.
And after a lot of specializedmonkey behavioral tests, and
what those are, I don't know.
I don't know how they determinethat

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (35:30):
they probably included bananas.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (35:32):
Yeah, maybe.
they saw Helen seemed to sensethings.
The presence of objects, wherethey were located, shapes,
colors.
She was also able to walk aroundcompletely new environments with
no problems.
As if she could see

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (35:47):
So it's like her eyes were still
generating and logging data, herbrain just could not translate
that data into anythingmeaningful,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (35:57):
maybe

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (35:58):
is so weird.
Cause like, okay, random tangentsite itself is such a fucking
gift, man.
Cause like, how am I standinghere on top of a mountain
tearing up at the majesty.
And it's just light bouncing offother mountains that are miles
and miles away from me.
What?! What?! It's a simulation,it's gotta be.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (36:20):
No,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21 (36:20):
kidding.
It's just incredible.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (36:22):
it is, it is incredible.
It's absolutely incredible.
and so monkeys, They're all welland good, but they're not
people, right?
So what happens with people,when doctors knew to look for
it, they started seeing it inpeople as well.
So these humans who had damageto their visual cortex, very
extensive damage, were totallyblinded.

(36:45):
But they were able to describeitems in front of them, and they
could sometimes catch thingsthat were thrown at them.
But they, they were, they werestill blind.
They could not see.
And so what it seems like isthat their brain is taking in
visual data unconsciouslywithout properly processing it,

(37:09):
kind of like what you mentioned.
And what I think is even moreinteresting, the patients didn't
even know it.
They did not like theseexperiments.
they did not think they, any oftheir guesses would be correct.
They had to be hard pressed tosay anything about an object in
front of them.
Like, the doctor would be like,what color is the ball?
And they'd be like, I'm not, Ican't, I don't know, I'm fucking
blind.

(37:30):
You know what I mean?
Like, they wouldn't want toanswer.
But when they did, when theyguessed, they were right more
often than those that were inthe control groups.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (37:40):
Now, I don't wanna be trite, but
there's a metaphor in theresomewhere about all of the
problems plaguing us.
But the fact that a blind personcan guess the color of the ball,
they can see it, they just can'taccess that

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (37:54):
are what we tell ourselves we are.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (37:57):
Well, no, they can't tell themselves
to see, right?
I mean, but

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (38:01):
but you are, If you have spent a really
long time emotionally coming togrips with the fact that you
can't see anymore the way youused to, that's an emotional
hurdle to go through anyway,that you have acceptance.
And if you've reached thatacceptance, then are you gonna
be super open to these?

(38:23):
impulses, you know what I mean?
These gut feelings that you haveabout sight.
No, you're going to shut itdown.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21 (38:30):
Whatever brains, my brain, my whatever is
done.
Just kidding.
Too much thinking about thebrain.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (38:38):
It's crazy.
And, and so some doctors, theydon't think that this exists.
Others say that it do, otherssay that it do.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210 (38:45):
they're all fakers.
I, we all knew it, they justwant to take their dog with them
everywhere.
We get it.
I want to take my dogs with meeverywhere too.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (38:53):
No, you don't, you hate your

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (38:55):
I don't hate them.
I just wish that they went tocollege.
And grew up and moved out.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (39:03):
So one theory about how this works is
that even though the visioncenter of the brain is
destroyed, there might be somekind of islands in there that
are still firing, just notfiring hot and heavy enough.
for the conscious brain to getthe signal.
And another theory is thatsomewhere along the optic nerve
that connects your eyes to yourbrain, there's processing going

(39:25):
on in transit, right?
It's going to different areas ofthe brain, but we just don't
understand how it works.
Next lobe up is cerebellum.
That's that wrinkly little thingI mentioned before, kind of on
the underside of your brain.
This controls complex motorfunctions and balance, and it

(39:46):
has a big job in coordinatingyour voluntary movements.
It does a good amount ofcoordinating itself.
It's processing information sentby other parts of the brain,
like your spinal cord and yournervous system.
So it kind of takes all thisinformation up the chain and
then relays it back down.
So if you want to catch andthrow a ball, there's a lot of

(40:06):
motor coordination going onthere.
The cerebellum is the hub forall this to and fro from brain
to body, back and forth.
And it really fucking fastspeeds.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (40:16):
And while I'm sitting here in awe, I
will also note that this isincredible.
This whole process, right?
It used to always leave me,like, speechless how people can
zoom in and out in traffic on amorning commute.
Everybody could, like, navigatethe physics of cars and timing
and anticipating human behaviorthat were not all crashing into

(40:36):
each other simultaneously at thesame time.
And then on the morning commute,but then they could get into
work and then be such fuckingidiots.
Like, every person I worked withthat was dumb, successfully
drove in that day.
How many times do I have to say,per my last email?
But they can just weave in andout and merge flawlessly.
Insane.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (40:56):
I think it's, because that's like motor
skill, right?
And those social aspects of ourbrain are so much more

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (41:02):
They guys learned how to rod through
it.
Rod.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (41:06):
So the, this structure is also pretty
important.
so you might be surprised tofind that in 2014, medical
science discovered a 24 year oldwoman that just did not have a
cerebellum.
What

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (41:20):
That's nuts.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (41:21):
what was even more amazing?
She was fine or mostly fine.
So she came into the hospitalbecause she had been feeling
dizzy and nauseous lately.
She, exactly.
She told the doctor that she hadalways been unsteady on her
feet.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (41:37):
Same.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (41:38):
She had had a hard time learning to
walk, according to her mother.
And when they CT scan, thedoctors could see why, the
cerebellum, the motor section ofher brain was gone.
It was just empty.
It was filled with cerebrospinalfluid and there's just a blank
space.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (41:59):
And that's a functioning person.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (42:00):
Yes.
Yes.
And so this finding was veryrare, obviously.
There are cases of this, butthey're almost always found in
small children, babies withsevere developmental issues,
often results in a very shortand a very sickly life.
cases of people living.
Fairly normal lives like thiswas pretty much unheard of and

(42:24):
yet here she is

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (42:26):
Yeah, her rest of her brain really
started doing some lifting.
It never

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (42:30):
Heavy lifting.
Yeah.
Yeah

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (42:32):
that just goes to show you that
person in your life, they aremissing, potentially, a part of
their brain.
Could be.
Right.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (42:40):
Can't blame them, you know, you don't
even know what they're walkingaround not knowing Okay, last
lobe, cause this is gettinghella long.
And, uh, I did have to leave outa ton of other crazy conditions
that I found.
I'm gonna have to do another oneof these episodes, granted that
somebody likes it.
But, I fuckin love the brain!So, the temporal lobe You wanna

(43:03):
guess where it's located?

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (43:04):
Under my chin.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (43:05):
No! At your temples! Heh.
Temples.
Yeah.
Near the ears on either side ofyour, your noggin, it helps
process information from yoursenses.
So communication, memory,language, processing emotions, a
lot of different stuff going onin there.
So we have arrived at our lastcase of Henry Molaison.

(43:32):
That's a guess on thepronunciation.
I really don't know there.
Sorry, Henry.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (43:35):
He probably doesn't remember
either.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (43:38):
Henry had been experiencing epileptic
seizures since he was ten, aftera bicycle crash.
So, seriously, everyone wearyour fucking helmets.
Yes.
Got progressively worse as hegot older, and at age 27, in
1953, he was desperate, so,Doctors decided to try a surgery

(44:02):
to relieve these seizures.
They decided to do a

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (44:10):
Do you want

lb_2_12-19-2024_21094 (44:10):
bilateral medial temporal lobectomy to
surgically resect the anteriortwo thirds of his hippocampi,
parahippocampi, cortices,anterior cortices, piriform
cortices, and amygdala.
Whatever that fucking means.
I don't know.
So, what they were trying to

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (44:32):
said those words.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (44:33):
Yeah.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (44:34):
I would have been, uh, uh, uh,
amygdala.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (44:37):
Yeah.
Basically, they were trying totake out the part of his brain
that was causing the seizuresand this was the heyday of
lobotomies and Psychosurgery waskind of all the rage.
So they got his permissiondrilled into his skull and took
out some parts of his brain Um,but somehow they took out too

(44:57):
much, uh, the front half of hishippocampus on both sides and
most of the amygdala, both ofwhich are located in that
temporal lobe, were taken out.
And I had a hard timedeciphering if it was
accidentally that they took outmore than they intended or they
just didn't know what wouldhappen, right, if they took out

(45:17):
this much.
Either way.
What happened happened, and thatwas when Henry recovered from
the surgery.
He was completely unable to formnew memories.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (45:29):
Now I may be going out on a limb
here, but I feel as if Henryshould be entitled to some
compensation

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (45:35):
Oh, uh, Brown and Crouppen?
Yeah, uh huh, uh huh, a hundred

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (45:39):
say They took out my client's
amygdala.
Like, come on guys.
Let's, and you can't put it backin.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (45:44):
Nope, it does not fit

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (45:46):
what those doctors thought when he
woke up and he

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (45:48):
I thought, I was thinking about
the doctor who did this, becausehe wasn't really involved in,
like, the later, like, studiesof them.
I'm like, who is this guy?
How did this guy cope with thatshit?
Like I don't know.
I have definitely a lot tounpack here that we don't have
time for, but very, veryinteresting.
So, Henry, he would forgetevents almost immediately, about

(46:10):
30 seconds after anyinteraction.
And what was so interesting wasthat he was not impaired in any
other way.
Sense of humor intact.
Personality remained the same,unlike Gage.
Uh, his IQ was the same as itever was.
No perception difficulties, nomotor difficulties.
He could move around just thesame as he ever could before.

(46:33):
Henry described his conditionas, quote, like waking from a
dream.
Every day is alone in itself.
He could remember some of hislife up until the surgery, but
not all of it.
And he seemed to not kind ofhave a lot of contacts for the
memories.
He would forget people themoment he turned away from them,

(46:54):
re meet them moments later.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (46:55):
Uh, so kind of like me at a
networking event.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (47:00):
Yeah.
But at least you would remember

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (47:01):
That I

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (47:02):
I was talking to somebody or like, you
know, maybe I know you have alittle bit of facial blindness,
but like the tie they werewearing or something, you'd

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (47:09):
the second someone says their name,
it just,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (47:12):
Same.
I'm terrible, terrible withnames, but this was like, he

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (47:15):
start saying they took out my
amygdala.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (47:19):
And so this whole thing, it was a big
shock to the metal community.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210 (47:23):
Really?
That taking out brains hasnegative impacts?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (47:31):
They, they thought that memory was an
all over the brain kind ofthing, but Henry, he proved that
they were really wrong, uh, andhe became a kind of medical
superstar for the rest of hislife.
People all over the world wouldcome in to talk to him, test
him, see what they could figureout about memory in the human

(47:51):
brain.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (47:52):
I hope he rode that wave as best
he could, man.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (47:55):
I think that he did.
From all the things that I read,he seemed to be in very good
spirits, uh,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (48:02):
He's like, Whoa, where am I?
What's going on?
This is awesome! Every morning,they're like, Here you are,
Henry.
We're going to give you thisawesome breakfast and we're
going to take you to be studied.
He's like, Hell yeah! I don'tcare that I did the same shit
yesterday.
It's all new and exciting to me.
Let's be like vacation everyday.
Maybe Henry's on to something.

(48:22):
Henry's

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (48:22):
So, uh, much like Blindsight, doctors
discovered that he could Heactually could remember some
things, he just didn't know thathe could.
So doctors would have himpractice a physical task, like
drawing something, And he wouldforget that he had done the
practice immediately.
It was just gone.

(48:43):
He didn't have any idea that hedid it.
But over time, he made steadyprogress at that task.
So the pictures that he wasdrawing were getting better and
better each time.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (48:54):
He's like, a flower?
What's a flower?
I've never seen a flower, neverdrawn a flower before in my
life! And, he's like, wait aminute, the shading on your
stem's not quite right

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (49:01):
yeah, so it indicated that this kind of
muscle memory of some kind wastaking hold.
His higher brain couldn'trecognize the memory, but it's
like his hand was gettingbetter.
He could also draw an accurateand detailed map of his home,
even though he should haveforgotten.
So, yeah.

(49:21):
Uh, what the next room lookedlike 30 seconds after leaving
it.
So it's like these routinemuscle memory items kind of got
burned in there somehow

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (49:32):
you do drills when you play sports.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (49:34):
Exactly.
So, Henry's condition gavedoctors a unique opportunity to
look at all these differentkinds of memory, which I didn't
know there was more than onekind of memory, but of course
that makes sense.
Spatial, episodic,topographical, conscious, and
unconscious memory.
All different.
And.
Um, potentially in differentareas of the brain.
So one of the findings was thatthese repetitive tasks that he

(49:57):
was taught were stored andretrieved from different areas
of the brain, places we didn'teven realize, places that he did
not get cut out.
And it's all massivelytechnical.
I do not understand it.
I read at least three or fourarticles about it.
And it is just so interesting.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (50:15):
And this is actually reminding me
when you said episodic memory.
I was like, why does that ring abell?
It's because back in the BigTalk days, it came up when we
did an episode on drinking,which I need to revisit.
So they didn't need to take outthis guy's brain.
All they had to do wasunderstand that different parts
of memory were stored indifferent parts of the brain
when a blackout drunk personcouldn't remember what they did

(50:37):
the night before, but yet, Theystill remembered how to walk and
like how to do a bunch ofdifferent shit.
I feel like they should haveclued them in a little bit about
memory before just like slicingopen the kid's head.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (50:49):
well, I don't think that they meant to
do that to him, but I mean ifyou're

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (50:52):
Well, no, I really that

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (50:54):
I don't know.
I don't know that that I couldsee how somebody could make that
argument, but

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (50:59):
Yeah, it's just like it's there's
evidence of the different kindsof memory without You know, like
being like what does this do?
What does this have to do?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (51:07):
Yeah,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (51:09):
Henry, cause he was like, let's leave
it all on the court.
But Helen, the monkey, let'slike not do that to living
things.
And

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (51:21):
But Henry, like I said, he was a
good sport about all this.
He was happy to participateuntil he died in 2008 at the age
of 81.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (51:30):
that was a shock to him.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (51:31):
Yeah, every

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (51:32):
He's like, I'm old?
What?
Yeah.
He

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (51:37):
he had to live in care his whole life,
as you can imagine, you know,burn the fucking house down.
He can't cook food, you know,all this kind of stuff.
but when he died, he did agreeto give his brain to science

rachel_2_12-19-2024_ (51:48):
bequeathed it or somebody did.

lb_2_12-19-2024_2109 (51:50):
bequeathed it.
Yeah.
Uh, sign this paper.
Okay.
Uh, and science has been havinga ball with this brain ever
since it has been sliced into 2,401 sections placed on slides
and it is used as a permanentneurological research resource
and a digital 3d atlas of hisbrain is available online for

(52:14):
all to see free of charge.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (52:16):
So he lives on.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (52:17):
He does.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (52:18):
His memory

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (52:20):
Haaaa.
There was one quote that Ididn't put in the notes.
There was one researcher that heworked with extensively.
And he said, you know, it's allyou live and you learn.
You learn and I live.
I know, right?

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210 (52:38):
Henry's a hysterical person.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (52:41):
Exactly.
I mean, I think he would havebeen a really cool guy to get to
know.
I've seen pictures of him.
he looked like

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (52:47):
of, yeah, I feel like he could have
handled a lot of, like,adversity and, with that
attitude, you

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (52:53):
Yeah,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (52:53):
Or is just not remembering the
secret of life.
Like my dogs.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (52:58):
Yep.
Just, it just goes to show, man,too much getting in your head,
too much navel gazing, all thatkind of stuff, it is not good
for anybody.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (53:07):
you're too worried about what you can't
see, you can't see what you cansee.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (53:11):
Exactly.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (53:13):
Put that on a

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (53:14):
Okay, so that is Lara's crash course on
the human brain, and

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (53:19):
And that was pretty fast, for all
things considered.
For the number of words thatwere written on a page,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (53:24):
I'm going to take that compliment
and I'm going to internalize it.
And so what really jumped out atme about all this research was
not just the hard life thatpeople with traumatic brain
injuries live because it'sreally fucking hard.
It's

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (53:41):
It's not the same as TikTok Watchers.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (53:44):
no.
no.
no.
It's not the same.
They're dealing with real, realshit here, and they're
suffering, and they don't knowhow to fix themselves.
but really what jumped out at mewas the unknowable nature of the
human brain.
Everyone has got one.
Each one probably functionsdifferently.
Each person has this differentlevel of neuroplasticity where,

(54:07):
like, one side of the brain cancompensate for another.
There are these deviations inhow we may store memories or
thoughts or emotional truths.
And some people might havefaulty wiring in whatever area
of the brain that is responsiblefor emotional truths.
Who the fuck knows?

(54:27):
But consciousness, personality,whatever it is, it's in there.
Somewhere.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (54:34):
The spark of life and what makes a
person, a person,

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (54:39):
It's in there, but we don't know where.
We don't know how it works.
And this just unravelingconsciousness and self.
Are you really a person?
Are you just a collection ofstructures and electric
impulses?
It's all there.
Some really heavy shit, and I'mthankful that I have the
structures that allow me tothink those thoughts.

(55:03):
So,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (55:03):
to not really fully gasp it either,
because as

lb_2_12-19-2024_21094 (55:06):
Wormhole.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2 (55:07):
wormhole.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (55:10):
So, socialites, just be thankful for
your big brains.
They are one in a billion, andtake care of them, appreciate
them.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (55:22):
And if you want to appreciate what
you heard today, nothing getsour brains a humming more than a
five star rating and review onwhatever podcasting platform of
your choice.
You

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (55:35):
gives our brains a big brain hard on.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (55:38):
Yes, and it helps us protect it
because otherwise we have toface the realities of being two
nobodies podcasting into theworld and our brains don't like
that.
I am.
I am.
I mean, I'm loving learningabout how precious my brain is
while I apply it with toxin,but, but we are also on the

(55:59):
YouTube now.
We did figure out a way toupload all of our podcast to be
videos So if you're a YouTubepodcast person, no longer will
you need to get out your stupidSpotify app.
I shouldn't say that becauseSpotify gods, please help us.
but if you listen on YouTube,we've noticed that the
discoverability there.
It's much better than a regularpodcasting app.

(56:20):
So, if you do happen to be apodcast listener, or just a
YouTube person in general, giveus a follow, give us a rating, a
review there.
We appreciate it.
It's been, a wild ride in thefew days that we've been on it.
I'm like, why are we sleeping onthis, this

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (56:38):
I sent, I, I took a screenshot, but it
was like, you've been discoveredbased on adult baby diaper
lovers, like all this kind ofstuff.
And I was like, you know, neverthings that I thought that I
would see, but, uh, here we are.
Yeah.
These searches led people toyou.
Number one, ABDL.
Number two, vagina shave.

(56:58):
Number three, adult diaper.

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (57:01):
the thing about it is if we had seen
this, if we had showed this toourselves in 2020, would we have
pursued this concept?

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (57:08):
Yes,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (57:09):
I'm just happy.
It's not all 65 year old men,right?
I can see the breakdown andthere's young people in there.
So we need to rethink about whatwe are because maybe we're not
just like a bunch of weirdoslooking at this.
Maybe we're like a youngperson's first introduction to
these things.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (57:23):
Gosh, I hope so.
I want to be your cool aunt.
I know things.
Listen, no, you're

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (57:30):
that.
Ha ha ha ha ha.
We could be your aunt that

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (57:34):
okay, yeah, your aunt that wants to be
cool, but your aunt that knowsshit.
Like, that is

rachel_2_12-19-2024_2109 (57:39):
teens.
Yeah.
And that's our aspiration.
So maybe that's what it is.
But it is also, it's more youngpeople, but also like people in
their 30s and stuff.
So, you know, our people.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (57:50):
Check us out!

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (57:52):
send us your rude thoughts at rude at
employee society podcast.
com.
I wonder how many pieces of mybrain would have to be missing
before I would stop being ableto regurgitate that.
Um, and also you can

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (58:04):
Let's shove a steel rod in there and

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (58:06):
See ya at the link in bio and of
course Stay curious and keepmarching to the beat of your own
Sorry, that steel rod just wentthrough my head.
Cut it.

lb_2_12-19-2024_21 (58:33):
​Exceedingly capricious.
And chi capricious.
Capricious is capricious, right?

rachel_2_12-19-2024_21094 (58:38):
Yeah, that sounds right.

lb_2_12-19-2024_210944 (58:39):
Capric, uh,

rachel_2_12-19-2024_210942 (58:42):
how to pronounce words, pronunciate
words.