07 November 2010

Fascinating craniopagus twins also have a conjoined brain

Many bloggers have posted links to this story at Macleans, so it may not be a "tywk," but I'm going to add it here because it is really fascinating.   The little girls in the photos above are joined at the head, but also have neural connections between their brains at the level of the thalamus.  As best the family and physicians can ascertain, the girls share thoughts and can see through each others' eyes -
Adding to the conundrum, of course, are their linked brains, and the mysterious hints of what passes between them. The family regularly sees evidence of it. The way their heads are joined, they have markedly different fields of view. One child will look at a toy or a cup. The other can reach across and grab it, even though her own eyes couldn’t possibly see its location. “They share thoughts, too,” says Louise. “Nobody will be saying anything,” adds Simms, “and Tati will just pipe up and say, ‘Stop that!’ And she’ll smack her sister.” While their verbal development is delayed, it continues to get better. Their sentences are two or three words at most so far, and their enunciation is at first difficult to understand. Both the family, and researchers, anxiously await the children’s explanation for what they are experiencing.
National Geographic has produced the video which I'm having difficulty embedding (you can view it here), but I can't at the moment ascertain whether it has been expanded into a full television program; I truly hope so.  Here's a YouTube video from the CBC to show how the girls behave, and to show what a truly remarkable family (and especially a mother) the little girls have:

There are many more details at the Macleans link. Via Metafilter.

Addendum:  A hat tip to Kristin, who points out that Canadians can view the entire documentary at this CBC link.

2 comments:

  1. Here's the link to the full length documentary:

    http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/Doc_Zone/1242299559/ID=1616373031

    I love Doc Zone. And Anne-Marie MacDonald, the host, is an accomplished Canadian author. I look forward to watching this, thanks for the heads up!

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  2. Thanks, Kristin, but unfortunately when I clicked on it, the CBC said the video doesn't stream outside Canada.

    But I've added your link to the post for those of you in Canada.

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