A Yogācāra Perspective on the Brain's Compensatory Mechanisms

Question: Recently, I saw a video online about a child who suffered a fright at six months old and subsequently became like an idiot, with severely impaired language, behavior, and social interaction abilities. However, now that he has grown up, an astonishing phenomenon has emerged: his ability for rapid mental calculation is remarkable, surpassing almost everyone in the world, even rivaling a computer. How can the principle of Consciousness-Only in Buddhism explain this phenomenon?

Answer: The supreme truth faculty (胜义根) in the brain of a six-month-old child is not yet fully developed. Modern medicine has found that the brain size of a newborn is about one-quarter that of an adult, and the brain volume of a six-month-old is still less than half that of an adult. Their conscious mind and bodily organs are very fragile. When subjected to severe fright, the reaction of the mental faculty (意根) becomes abnormal, prompting an abnormal reaction in the brain's nervous system. The flow of qi and blood becomes impeded, hindering activity in the brain region, resulting in damage to the function of a certain part of the supreme truth faculty.

Abnormal blood flow in the heart prevents it from efficiently pumping blood throughout the body, leading to subsequent problems in brain development. This ultimately results in brain disability, commonly referred to as brain damage. However, so-called brain damage is not complete dysfunction. When a localized part of the supreme truth faculty is damaged, causing functional impairment, the functions of other parts may actually strengthen. This is what modern medicine calls the "compensatory mechanism." The brain's compensatory mechanism is more pronounced the younger the individual is.

The region of the supreme truth faculty in the posterior part of our brain has an extremely complex structure, divided into numerous areas, each responsible for specific bodily functions. The entire brain is composed of the four great elements (四大种子). The solid matter formed by these four elements, such as the cerebral cortex and nerve fibers, as well as liquid substances like cerebrospinal fluid and blood, are all material forms (色法). Blood flowing through the brain brings nutrients composed of the four great elements, providing nourishment for the development and operation of the posterior brain's supreme truth faculty. These nutrients can influence brain thinking, affecting the conscious mind or the discerning activities of the six consciousnesses (六识). When frightened, blood flow becomes abnormal, stagnating in localized areas. The brain tissue deprived of blood supply ceases to develop or even atrophies.

Under normal circumstances, the nutrients composed of the four great elements are evenly distributed throughout the brain. Due to the uneven distribution of material forms, a specific part of the supreme truth faculty receives abundant nourishment, enhancing the functional capacity of that brain region. The conscious functions corresponding to that area thus become stronger. Conversely, areas receiving insufficient or no nourishment see their corresponding functions diminish or atrophy.

This child exhibits exceptionally sharp and developed mathematical thinking, unaffected negatively, while aspects like language are impaired. His abnormal walking indicates that a function in the cerebellum is also affected, as the cerebellum governs body balance and locomotion. The functions corresponding to the affected areas weaken. Where do the diminished functions go? They are utilized to compensate and enhance the functions of the more developed areas.

Compensation occurs in two aspects: material form (色法) and mental factors (心法). Using the term "compensation" isn't entirely precise. It should be said that his thinking function in a specific area became exceptionally developed through compensation. This is because the supreme truth faculty corresponding to this function not only remained unaffected in its intake of the material four great elements but also absorbed nutrients originally destined for other brain regions.

This is the explanation from the perspective of material form. From the perspective of mental factors, individuals with normally developed supreme truth faculties should have balanced development of the functions of the six consciousnesses. Due to the impact of the fright, this child's development of the six consciousnesses became unbalanced. Compared to ordinary people, the functions of the six consciousnesses related to language, behavior, and social interaction are significantly deficient. However, they unexpectedly received compensation in mathematical thinking, calculation, and memory abilities. If modern medical technology were sufficiently advanced to classify the various functions of the supreme truth faculty in detail and identify the corresponding brain tissue regions anatomically, it would be discovered that the brain tissue and neurons responsible for mathematical thinking are exceptionally developed. The six consciousnesses arise dependent on the sense faculties (根) and sense objects (尘). The strength or weakness of the supreme truth faculty naturally influences conscious thinking.

Due to a lack of relevant knowledge in medical physiology, I cannot provide a detailed explanation in that regard. I will instead offer an example from the perspective of Consciousness-Only.