The auras that appear in epilepsy consist of sensory experiences, such as smells, sounds, visual images or physical sensations that foreshadows a seizure. However, auras that occur in the temporal lobes generally tend to elicit a more intense, sometimes spiritual experience. In his novel, Kean reasons that temporal lobe auras differ from other auras because neighboring structures of the limbic system may become stimulated, causing this profound, sometimes divine experience.

2. What important role did Dr. Wilder Penfield (a Canadian, by the way) play in developing our understanding of the brain, and how was his work different from those who explored this area before him?

Penfield created a ‘map’ of the brain by stimulating the brain in certain areas, observing the physical response, asking the patient how they felt, and marking this area of the brain while Penfield’s secretary documented the patient’s …show more content…
In order to disprove this theory, Sperry conducted disturbing experiments on rats and fish. Sperry took rats and switched the nerves that carry pain signals to the brain in their two back legs. The rat was then shocked when it stepped on a certain spot, but the sensation of pain was felt in the opposite leg of where the damage actually occurred. This lead to the rat compensating for the pain with the actually damaged leg, and to receiving shocks whenever they stepped on the specific spot again. The rat and its neurons never learned, no matter how many times it was shocked. Sperry’s experiments with fish involved removing the eyeballs, disconnecting the optic nerve, and then re-planting the eye upside down. The fish were able to replace the nerves and were able to see again, however the never re-adjusted their behaviour according to their new upside-down