Interesting Brains Project

A substantial fraction of the population lives with brains that look different from a typical brain. Some brains have been affected by stroke or physical damage, others have cysts or a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles (hydrocephalus), yet others have had different parts resected to treat epilepsy or to remove tumors. Behavioral investigations of individuals with adult-onset brain damage and subsequent perceptual, motor, or cognitive difficulties have long been an invaluable source of knowledge about the architecture of the human mind and brain. However, in some cases, brain damage (especially early in life) has no effects on cognition and behavior: indeed, some individuals don’t know that they are living with an atypical brain until quite late in life. We believe that studying the functional organization of atypical brains—in both individuals who experience cognitive difficulties and those who live symptom-free—can reveal critical new insights about how our brains work in general, what they are capable of in the face of tissue loss or displacement, and maybe even how different brain components have evolved.