Researchers from the Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group of the University of Barcelona and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (Idibell), the Bellvitge Hospital (HUB) of Barcelona and the Computer Vision Center (CVC) have published in the scientific journal ‘Cortex’ a study that describes for the first time how to perform brain tumor surgery without affecting the ability to play chess. The study has allowed a patient from the aforementioned Barcelona center to undergo surgery, minimizing the risk that the operation would affect his chess performance.
Before the operation, the researchers combined the electrical stimulation mapping awake patient with functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate different cognitive processes involved in the game of chess: visual search (locating a piece on the board), rule retrieval (determining whether a move is legal or not), and the ability to predict checkmate. Thanks to this work, they were able to identify a point in the left supramarginal gyrus of the brain that is key to retaining the ability to play chess well.
The patient at Bellvitge Hospital is an amateur chess player with an ELO score of 1,950 who was due to undergo an operation to remove a brain tumor in his left parietal lobe. Before the operation, he expressed a desire to preserve his performance as a chess player. Thanks to the work to detect the region of the brain related to the ability to play this game and the efforts to preserve the area, the patient was able to maintain both his chess performance and the ELO score (mathematical method, based on statistical calculation, to calculate the relative skill of players in disciplines such as chess).
The study has demonstrated the viability of this type of protocols to preserve higher cognitive abilities after brain tumor resection. Thus, in addition to the usefulness it has had in this specific case, the study opens the door to using similar protocols to promote the preservation of complex skills in future patients.
With more than 300,000 brain tumors diagnosed Every year around the world, brain cancer represents a major global health problem. The usual treatment is removal of the tumor through neurosurgery. This intervention is often performed with the patient awake when the lesion is located in the so-called eloquent areas of the brainwhich are those related to functions such as speaking, moving the limbs or making facial expressions, functions that are especially sensitive to preserving during surgery.
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