Mysteries Of The Brain

By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - In a medical condition called anosognosia, some alert and talking individuals who are paralyzed on one side of their bodies have no awareness of their paralysis and they claim their paralyzed limbs can still move.

Researchers have studied this bizarre condition, and they've identified brain regions that are involved.

Brain scans reveal that people with this condition have damage to the frontal lobes of the brain. This part of the brain is directly involved in many types of movement.

The same group is now studying another odd phenomenon where people have no awareness of anything on their left side. These people can look at a clock and only see the right half.

Certainly we have learned a great deal about the way the mind works over the past few decades but there is much more to learn.