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I thought that the notion that one side of the brain is dominant is "old hat" and is well known. K. F. cg Carline M.Schild wrote: >Neurologist challenges Newton > > > Charleston neurologist Iraj Derakhshan has published a number of articles in >medical journals about what he calls his "non-Newtonian" theory of the human >brain. Derakhshan believes one side of the brain is dominant and controls >movement for the whole body. He says his theory could change the way patients >are treated for seizures and Parkinson's Disease. >Dr. Iraj Derakhshan has a tough fight ahead of him. > He's taking on Sir Isaac Newton. > Derakhshan, who calls himself the author of a new non-Newtonian model of the >human brain, is a neurologist with offices in Charleston and Beckley. > Several of his articles on how the brain's hemispheres function in relation >to the body's movement, vision and thought have recently been or soon will be >published in some high-profile medical journals. > Derakhshan is hoping his work will now have a practical use treating patients >in West Virginia and maybe soon, around the world. > "This is such a revolutionary point of view that at first I had rejection >after rejection," Derakhshan said of his controversial theories. "It's going >to take probably two decades before it's really accepted, but it has such >important therapeutic ramifications right now." > Derakhshan argues that what Newton believed about the human brain -- that >each hemisphere controls and represents the opposite side of the human body >-- is inaccurate. > "That has been a point of common knowledge since 1704, and the fact is he was >wrong," Derakhshan insists. "It has caused a chaos in the history of >neurology for hundreds of years. But that is what Newton thought, and that is >what I'm up against." > Derakhshan thinks, instead, that only one side of a person's brain is >dominant and that hemisphere controls the movement of the entire body. > For most people, the dominant hemisphere is the one opposite the dominant >hand. For instance, in a person who favors his or her right hand, the left >hemisphere of the brain is actually dominant. But that's not always the case. > Sometimes people who are biologically hard-wired to be left-handed wind up >favoring their right hand, or vice-versa. > "Nature tries to persuade you to assume your handedness according to what >nature wants," Derakhshan said. "Since we are in control, however, a child >might just decide instead to imitate someone they love or they might just be >stubborn and decide to resist nature and use their other hand." > Derakhshan has developed a simple typing test that helps identify the >biologically dominant hand and in turn, the dominant hemisphere in each >person's brain. > This test, he says, could replace the need for intrusive surgical procedures >used to determine the source of seizures and tremors. It also could minimize >the use of seizure-control medications to treat some brain injuries and >affect how patients with Parkinson's Disease and other maladies are treated. > For instance, a recent case at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital involved >a man who had a large tumor in the right side of his brain. > Doctors believed the tumor would eventually lead to seizures and immediately >put the patient on a regimen of seizure precautions. > Derakhshan urged physicians to stop the restrictive routines because the >tumor, being on the non-dominant side of his brain, could never lead to such >problems, he said. > Operating on Newton's theory that both sides of the brain play a part in >motor and sensory control leads to confusion for doctors who are trying to >identify the source of seizures in some patients, Derakhshan said. > Derakhshan's theory is that the source of the seizure always is in the >dominant side of the brain, narrowing down the size of the potential problem >area by 50 percent. > "Just a very simple test is going to replace procedures that make you shiver >even thinking about them," Derakhshan said. > He describes in detail the process one must go through in an invasive >encephalography, when surgeons must pick up portions of the skull and put >tiny electrodes all over the brain. > "People have to go through these God-awful procedures," Derakshan said. "They >spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on surgery, and 30 percent of the time >they have the wrong hemisphere." > Derakhshan's theories build on observations made by musicologists for >centuries. > Composers and music teachers have always understood that, with piano players >for instance, one hand always moves faster than the other. > The speed differential only is possible if Derakhshan's theory is right, he >said. > The difference in time between when a person's right and left fingers hit a >key is the time it takes for the dominant side of the brain to send a signal >to the non-dominant hand. That hand, therefore, moves just a fraction of a >second more slowly. > It's a phenomenon also witnessed by drummers, referred to as "flam," >Derakhshan said. > "One hand is always ahead of the other," he notes. "You watch them bring down >their sticks, and it's never at the same time." > Derakhshan began thinking about the implications of his idea in the early >1980s, but he didn't publish his first report until 2001. > He wanted to be sure he was right, and he waited until he thought he had >enough data that people would listen to him. > His approach might be working. > He has lectured on the topic at the Cleveland Clinic, and his work has been >published, largely unedited, in 10 medical journals during the past three >years. > He also has articles in about as many non-medical journals, especially those >focused on the robotic implications of his theories. > He's using the typing test and software he has developed when it comes to >treating his patients, and he's hoping other physicians and surgeons will >consider his theory when working with their own. > "It's really earth shattering," Derakhshan said. "You, as a person, live in >your major hemisphere. This is where humanity lies." > Derakhshan's body of work can be found on the National Library of Medicine's >Web site, www.pubmed.com, and more information about his theories is >available at www.mimickingman.com. > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] >In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn