Paralysis

[vortex]

Hi! I'm new to this forum and I had a question I really would want an answer to.

Two persons are involved in a car accident. The consequences lead to damages in their nervous system.
One of them loses the ability to speak and get's paralyzed in tounge. The other one loses the ability to move right arm. What has happened to each persons nervous system?

I would be grateful and appreciate an answer.

[Darby]

Is it possible to have tongue paralysis?

There are several different possibilities for what happened, with brain, spine, and peripheral damage all involved.

[TheVirus]

Does the guy who can't speak can't speak because of the tongue paralysis or because of something else being paralysed?

[biohazard]

Anything can get paralysed if the nerve(s) innervating it get damaged badly enough :)

Of course, the likeliness of getting a tongue paralysed probably requires severe head injuries on both sides of the head, so the chances are that many other things get paralysed as well. Alternatively, the tongue gets paralysed also if its control region in the brain gets damaged, but again this symptom alone would be extremely rare and require some kind of piercing injury directly to the control area. Third option and the easiest to explain the lack of speech is to get an injury to the speech section in the brain. Then the tongue would not be paralysed, but speech was impossible.

There is a typical case of tongue paralysis (which usually also includes general facial paralysis on one side) that sometimes happens after a stroke. In this case the stroke causes damage to either to the nerves controlling the movement of the tongue/face or to the speech region in the brain, making the patient lose the sensation to their tongue. Stroke, or stroke-like external injury, often causes one-sided paralysis, though, because the face is on many part innervated from the sides and both sides get simultaneously damaged only in some very rare cases. (Aside from a complete head trauma that would likely kill the person anyway).


Or something along these lines, it has been a while since my last anatomy lecture ;)

[mith]

broca's area or something

[vortex]

Sorry for the missunderstanding fellows. The first person loses the speech ability.

Thank you for all answers, really appreciate it

[TheVirus]

Of course, the likeliness of getting a tongue paralysed probably requires severe head injuries on both sides of the head, so the chances are that many other things get paralysed as well. Alternatively, the tongue gets paralysed also if its control region in the brain gets damaged, but again this symptom alone would be extremely rare and require some kind of piercing injury directly to the control area.

It's doesn't need to be caused by trauma. If you get an infection in the nerves of the tongue or the area of the brain that controls it you might also get enough nerve damage to cause paralysis. Plus, there are many genetic diseases that can cause nerve damage (though i have to admit i've never heard of one that affects only the tongue, at least not before damaging something or everything else).

[biohazard]

It's doesn't need to be caused by trauma. If you get an infection in the nerves of the tongue or the area of the brain that controls it you might also get enough nerve damage to cause paralysis. Plus, there are many genetic diseases that can cause nerve damage (though i have to admit i've never heard of one that affects only the tongue, at least not before damaging something or everything else).

Hey, the person in question was supposed to be in a car accident. I don't think you get genetic disorders or nervous infections from car crashes...

[TheVirus]

It's doesn't need to be caused by trauma. If you get an infection in the nerves of the tongue or the area of the brain that controls it you might also get enough nerve damage to cause paralysis. Plus, there are many genetic diseases that can cause nerve damage (though i have to admit i've never heard of one that affects only the tongue, at least not before damaging something or everything else).

Hey, the person in question was supposed to be in a car accident. I don't think you get genetic disorders or nervous infections from car crashes...

Sorry, forgot that.