IUBio

Are brains necessary?

Bill Skaggs skaggs at bns.pitt.edu
Tue Apr 8 15:23:05 EST 1997


drgg4 at aol.com (DrGG4) writes:
> 
> Barker, E et al (1992) Reciprocal neurological developments of twins
> discordant for hydrocephalus. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology,
> 34, 623-632.
> 
> Priestly, B & Lorber, J. (1981). Ventricular size and intelligence in
> achondroplasia. Zeitschrift fur Kinderchirugie, 34, 332-336.
> 
> These are two of Lorber's published accounts of the video you wont
> believe. I suspect you will be very critical of these papers as well.
> Gary

Have you actually read the papers that you're citing?  The first one
is a perfectly good paper, but the only thing relevant in it is a
passing mention of a man with an IQ of 112 who had CSF filling 50-70%
of his cranial cavity.  Now, a) this isn't enough brain-shrinkage to
bother me, particularly given the increased head size usually
associated with hydrocephaly, and b) it's only mentioned in passing
anyway, without presentation of the evidence.  More interestingly,
there is also a mention of the "previously shown fact" that there are
cases with normal intelligence and CSF filling 95% of the cranial
cavity.  Three references are given for this:  one is a dissertation
abstract, the second is a paper published by Dandy in 1921 (which I
don't have access to), and the third is a book chapter written by
Lorber in 1983, in a German book.  For non-scientist readers, I
should point out that book chapters are usually unreviewed.  In any
case, the book is not available in the Pittsburgh library system, so I
can't easily get a look at it.

I don't have ready access to the Zeitschrift fur Kinderchirurgie
either, but if the second paper you cite contains anything relevant,
I'm surprised it wasn't cited in the other paper -- it would make a
better reference than the three that are given.  Can you summarize its
contents for us?

	-- Bill



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