When I began to look at what article I would like to use to write about, it took about thirty seconds to decide on this one. Since I have some first-hand knowledge about autism I thought it would be a good idea to read up on it further. I have been a caretaker for an 8-year-old autistic boy for 4 years. While the general public may not be familiar with autism or have been falsely misled by the portrayal of autism in the movie Rain Man, it is no doubt an interesting neurological disorder. After reading this article I was truly astounded to see how much information about the brain we already know, and yet how much we don't know.
             The article I choose to write about is entitled, The Cerebellum contributes to higher functions during development – evidence from a series of children surgically treated for posterior fossa tumors. After I read the title and most of the first page, I realized that you would have to be a brain surgeon to understand some of the material contained in the article (pun intended). Despite this fact, I read on with a dictionary in hand. The scientists conducting this experiment narrowed down their field to 26 eligible children. All of these children had undergone surgery for the removal of their cerebellar hemisphere or their dermal tumors. In both cases the scientists were trying to examine the effects of the lesions on the brain and more specifically the site of the deficits in the brain depending upon the site of the lesion. I was amazed that there are so many tests administered to the children before and after the surgery. I believe I counted approximately 18 neuropsychological battery tests along with extensive neurological examinations using an MRI, an EEG, PET scans, and the like. Another facet that amazed me was how the brain can reorganize pathways destroyed by the tumors and then subsequently removed through surgery. As early as 3 weeks most of the children with cerebellar vermis medulloblastomas recover...