What Happens When An Infant Loses Half Their Brain?

Short Wave

NPR

Nature, News, Astronomy, Science, Daily News, Life Sciences

4.7 • 6.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2023

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

Mora Leeb was 9 months old when surgeons removed half her brain. Now 15, she plays soccer and tells jokes. Scientists say Mora is an extreme example of a process known as brain plasticity, which allows a brain to modify its connections to adapt to new circumstances.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:04.7	Hey, Shortwaveers, Regina Barber here with John Hamilton, NPR's resident brain science
0:11.3	guy and curator of terrible jokes.
0:14.5	Hey, John.
0:15.5	Oh, Gina, I am going to try to move past my hurt and introduce you to somebody who tells
0:21.4	a lot better jokes than I do.
0:23.0	Her name is Mora Leeb.
0:24.4	Hi, Mora, how you doing?
0:26.4	Good.
0:27.4	How are you?
0:28.4	She's just 15 and in a lot of ways she's pretty much a typical teenager.
0:32.5	I mean, she likes playtanas.
0:33.6	She likes play soccer, she gets her nails done and she loves to tell jokes.
0:38.9	How do you make a hot dog stand?
0:41.6	I don't know, how do you?
0:43.8	Take away its cheer.
0:46.2	She's good.
0:47.2	You could learn from her, John.
0:48.7	Yeah, thanks.
0:49.7	But, you know, the reason we're talking about Mora today is that she has a really unusual
0:54.8	brain.
0:55.8	Well, about two months before she was born, she had a massive stroke.
	...

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