The Brain Plasticity Miracle

Pedro Rewired His Brain After a Massive Stroke

In his book, The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge, M.D. relates the brain plasticity miracle of Pedro.

At the age of sixty-five, Pedro Bach-y-Rita had suffered a massive stroke that paralyzed his face and half of his body.

He was unable to talk or walk, and his sons Paul and George were told there was no hope for recovery,” and that Pedro would have to go into an institution.

Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita was a neuroscientist and rehabilitation physician, and also a pioneer in promoting the understanding that the human brain has an amazing ability to adapt and change itself; what we now know as brain plasticity.

At first George, then a medical student in Mexico, arranged rehabilitation for his father at a local hospital, which offered a typical four-week therapy.

Pedro showed very little progress, and George decided to have him come and live with him so he could provide additional therapy.

He knew nothing about rehabilitation, and his ignorance turned out to be a blessing. He succeeded by breaking all of the current rules.

“I decided that instead of teaching my father to walk, I was going to teach him first to crawl” George said. “I told my father, ‘You started off crawling. You are going to have to crawl again for a while.’ The only model I had was how babies learn.”

As soon as Pedro could support himself, George had him crawl with his weak shoulder and arm supported by a wall.

Pedro loved gardening, and Paul had him practicing outside, which led to problems with the neighbors who thought it was unseemly to make the professor crawl like a dog.

It took many hours each day, but gradually Pedro went from crawling to moving on his knees to standing and finally to walking.

Pedro struggled with speech on his own, and after three months it began coming back.

He learned to type normally and at the end of a year he was able to return to full-time teaching at City College in New York.

Pedro was active for seven more years until, while climbing in the Colombia Mountains, he suffered a heart attack.

Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita later discovered that 97% of the nerves that ran from the brain’s cerebral cortex to the spine had been destroyed by the stroke.

Pedro's brain had totally reorganized itself as a result of the intensive “brain remaking.”

As Winston Churchill said, “Never give up. Never give up. Never give up!”

Gene's Comments

The human brain has an amazing ability to remake it self. Many people are surprised to learn that brain fitness programs can play a role in this.

Ninety percent of people who complete the Posit Science Brain Fitness Program reach brain processing speeds of people under age 40. Studies show Memory Improvement of 10 years with Brain Fitness Programs.

May your Brain be nimble brain be quick.

Quicker than lightning...never missing a trick!

Gene

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