Banjo Pickin’ Brain Surgery
Mo at Neurophilosophy posted a great video of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery being performed on a man with essential tremor, while he plays the banjo. As with most brain surgeries, the patient was awake, alert, and talking. The doctors had him play the banjo so they could fine tune (pun intended) the electrode placement in order to have the best response.
Categories: brain, neuroscience, neurosurgery brain, brain surgery, DBS, essential tremor, neurosurgery
I didn’t even know I had to worry about my cerebellar Purkinje cells!!! What next?
The video is really interesting. However, do I have to learn the banjo to have brain surgery?
Yes, unfortunately banjo-playing is now a FDA-required part of neurosurgery. If you can’t play, you’re out of luck.