Henry Molaion Unforeseen Amnesia Theory

What goes through a swimmer’s mind while they are struggling to stay afloat during the tedious practices? Are certain sections of the brain more awake than others at 5:30 in the morning? Imagine waking up to a blaring alarm, trudging five minutes down the hill (occasionally in the rain), and either jumping into a frigid pool or venturing back outside for a 40 minute run in the dark with the sinking realization there is a second practice later in the day. As a swimmer, there are several thoughts which swirl around in my head during practices; however, intriguing are those that occur during running. The majority of the thoughts arise in the amygdala and the reticular formation and are stimulated through internal fears, physical suffering, and
A man by the name of Henry Molaison had a procedure performed on his brain at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) in order to fix his epilepsy; however, instead he ended up possessing amnesia. The procedure caused damage to the hippocampus and the amygdala. His frontal lobe received to drilled holes and parts were suctioned out.The unintentional damage, which became secretive information, was an unreported lesion to the frontal lobe of Molaison’s brain. Due to the controversial damage and unforeseen amnesia caused by the experimental procedure, was this too far in the name of science? Chapter two discussed the parts of the brain, their functions, and the effects of brain damages to separate sections of the human brain. In Molaison’s case, the frontal lobe was damaged and specifically the hippocampus. It was concluded there was a bilateral lesion (tissue damage) to the hippocampus. Since the Hippocampus is directly related to memory, Molaison could no longer retain information for more than 30 seconds. In order to comprehend the full extent of the damage, scientists positioned a pain inflicting device called a dolorimeter on Molaison’s chest. Yet he never complained because he was incapable of feeling the pain despite the fact he was burning. Why, then, did the damage to Henry Molaison’s brain not cause a complete personality change? A prominent brain damage survivor mentioned was Phineas Gage; he survived being impaled by a railroad spike. Consequently, his personality was entirely opposite and he became dark, angry, and cruel. What was the difference? While Gage’s brain was damaged in the left superior temporal gyrus, Molaison’s was impacted in the Limbic System-- the amygdala section-- and the hippocampus. As explained in chapter 2, the Limbic System is the base point for the emotions, memories, and drives of all human beings. Therefore, the scientists who observed Molaison were often perturbed