• Question: Can paralysis effect only one side of your brain?

    Asked by fisherjwh to Helen, Jenni, Mark, Martin, Stu on 24 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Helen O'Connor

      Helen O'Connor answered on 24 Jun 2011:

      Paralysis anywhere in the body can be caused by damage to the nervous system – some of which is in the brain but alot of paralysis occurs when the spinal cord is damaged. Which bits of the body are paralysed will depend on which parts of the brain or spinal cord are damaged.

      When people have a stroke it will effect one side of their body depending on whether the stroke occured in the left or right hemisphere of the brain (more about hemispheres here http://ias.im/48.150)

      A stroke happens when a blood vessel that carries oxygen to the brain is blocked by a blood clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood (and oxygen) and starts to die. There is lots of detail here about what happens when different sides of the brain are affected http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=EFFECT.

      There is also something called brain paralysis – this is where the brain itself is paralysed – this is often called cerebal palsy.

    • Photo: Mark Burnley

      Mark Burnley answered on 24 Jun 2011:

      I agree with Helen’s definition of paralysis – it’s caused by nervous system damage. Those people unfortunate enough to have left or right hemispheric stroke may suffer paralysis on one side or the other if it affects the motor cortex. Similarly, an incomplete spinal lesion (a break in the spinal cord) could affect only one side of the body below the level of the lesion. That’s not affecting the brain as such, but from a person’s perspective it will still be paralysis.

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