Brain surgery
Brain surgeries are an extremely important procedure since the brain controls all bodily functions and behaviors. The most common associated risks are behavioral changes, some minor and others major.
Tumor Location
The key to knowing what behaviors a brain surgery operation might affect are most easily determined by the area that the brain surgery is in. Surgeries can be in numerous areas, including the pituitary gland, which can affect hormonal changes to the frontal lobe, which commonly alters reasoning, moods and decision-making.
Surgery Procedures
Many procedures are the cause of undesired side effects. As many areas require the surgeon to manipulate tissue, any added pressure or disconnected tissue can cause unusual behavior changes.
Epilepsy
A common brain surgery is for those with epilepsy. The purpose of this surgery is to produce a change in a specific behavior; namely, epileptic seizures. Those who receive this surgery generally go from dozens of seizures per day to only a couple of seizures for the rest of their lives.
Depression
A common unwanted side effect of most brain surgeries is depression, normally varying from person to person. This is generally caused from frontal lobe operations, a common area for brain surgeries.
Memory
Operations that were performed during the middle of the 20th century were especially prone to memory loss as a side effect. This is believed to have been because doctors were less knowledgeable about brain tissue.
Tags: brain surgery, frontal lobe, side effect, this surgery
