Final answer:
Maranda was able to manage without the left half of her brain due to brain plasticity, which is the brain's ability to form new neural connections. The corpus callosum supports communication between the brain's hemispheres, and when severed, can result in split-brain conditions that provide insights into the brain's lateralization of functions, like language and motor control.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, the concept that allowed Maranda to manage well without the left half of her brain is known as brain plasticity or neuroplasticity. This is the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and adjust their activities in response to new situations or changes in their environment.
This concept is crucial in understanding how patients with split-brain conditions or those who have undergone hemispherectomies can still function relatively well, despite the significant alterations in their brain structure.
The corpus callosum is a bundle of neural fibers that connects the two cerebral hemispheres and allows for communication between them. In cases where the corpus callosum is severed to treat conditions like intractable epilepsy, the result is a split-brain scenario.
This can give insights into the unique functions of the two hemispheres. For example, these patients might demonstrate difficulties in verbalizing perceptions processed by their right hemisphere because the speech center is typically located in the left hemisphere.
Conversely, they are often able to perform nonverbal tasks using their left hand, which is controlled by the right hemisphere, without being able to verbally identify what they are doing.