Awakenings

In the movie, hospital patients, including Leonard Lowe (Robert DeNiro’s character), are in a catatonic state that impedes their abilities to talk and understand others. They were described as being ghosts; their bodies are present but they are not. They appear to be completely unresponsive until Oliver Sacks (Robin William’s character) realizes they can catch items that are dropped or thrown at them. They were also found to be responsive to things such as music.
I found this interesting because it means that some things that we learn can be reached in our subconscious. Acts that have been learned and become somewhat of a second nature were more easily accessible, like walking and catching something that has been thrown (reflexes). Things that required even higher-level brain functions were not as easily reached however.
In examining the brain, it would appear that certain areas of the brain in the catatonic patient’s are not functioning or were at least dormant. The Occipital Lobe would be working, since the patient’s could see. Broca’s Area was not functioning properly because it is associated with speech and facial nerves. I believe a portion of the Temporal Lobe was working because they did not show emotion or recognize language (Wernick’s Area) but they did show recognition of sounds (Primary Auditory Cortex). I also believe only a part of the Parietal Lobe was working since the patients could control movement and orientation but other associated functions were lacking. The motor control part of the Frontal Lobe was working more than the problem solving, reasoning and emotional areas. Lastly, the Neurocortex, which I don’t believe was working properly since it is involved in higher-level functions such as: conscious thought, spatial reasoning and language.
If areas of the brain can shut down due to whatever ailment the patients in this story were suffering from, it makes me wonder what other afflictions have similar effect.


The brain is similar to a computer. It is comprised of a series of parts to achieve multiple functions that often intertwine. You have an area for memory, processing, power, etc.
If a few parts of your circuit board fail, the computer can still function, not as well though. If our computer stops working, you take it in for repairs. This is similar to going to the doctor. It is also similar in the sense that computers can update with new software. This is comparable to a human learning something new.