The Brain's "Compensatory Function" from the Perspective of Yogācāra (Consciousness-Only)

Question: I recently saw a video online about a child who was frightened at six months of age, and from then on became like a fool, with his language, behavior, and ability to communicate with others severely impaired. But now that he has grown up, a remarkable phenomenon has appeared: his mental calculation ability in mathematics is astonishing, surpassing almost everyone in the world, even rivaling a computer. How can this phenomenon be explained according to the Yogācāra principles of the Buddha-dharma?

Answer: The supreme faculty (rūpa-prasāda) in the brain of a six-month-old child has not yet fully developed. Modern medicine has found that at birth, a child's cranial size is only about one quarter of an adult's, and the brain capacity of a six-month-old child is still less than half of an adult's; his mind consciousness and bodily organs are all very fragile. When he receives a great fright, the manas reacts abnormally, prompting abnormal reactions in the brain's nervous system; the qi and blood cannot flow normally, and activity in the brain is obstructed, resulting in damage to the function of a certain part of the supreme faculty.

The flow of blood from the heart becomes abnormal and cannot smoothly deliver blood to the whole body, leading to later problems in the brain's development, ultimately forming a brain disability—what is commonly called brain damage. But so-called brain damage is not complete impairment, because when a person's supreme faculty is partially damaged causing functional disorder, the functions of other parts are instead enhanced. This is what modern medicine calls "compensatory function," and the younger the age, the greater this compensatory capacity of the brain develops.

The area of the supreme faculty at the back of our brain has an extremely complex structure, divided into many, many regions, with each region responsible for a certain part of the body's functions. The entire brain is constituted from the seeds of the four great elements. The solid substances such as the cerebral cortex and nerve fibers formed by these four great elements, as well as liquid substances such as brain fluid and blood, are all material form (rūpa). The human body's blood flows through the brain, bringing nutrients of the four great elements, providing nutritional material for the development and operation of the supreme faculty in the rear brain. These nutrients can influence the brain's thinking and influence the discerning activities of the mind consciousness or the six consciousnesses. When he was frightened, the blood flow became abnormal and stagnated in certain local areas; the brain tissue where blood could not circulate stopped developing and even atrophied.

Under normal circumstances, the nutrients composed of the four great elements are evenly distributed throughout the entire brain. Because the material form is distributed unevenly, a certain part of the supreme faculty receives abundant nutrition, the function of the brain in that region becomes vigorous, and the corresponding function of the mind consciousness in that place is enhanced. As for other regions that receive no nutrition or insufficient nutrition, their corresponding functions decline and atrophy.

This child's mathematical thinking is especially quick and well developed, unaffected by the adverse influence; instead, he was affected in language and other areas. Also, his walking is abnormal, which shows that the function of a certain part of the cerebellum was also affected, because the cerebellum is responsible for bodily balance and for walking. The affected areas have correspondingly weakened functions. Where did the weakened functions go? They were diverted to compensate for the part where function is relatively well developed.

Compensation occurs in two aspects: one in material form, the other in mind. Actually, the word "compensation" is not quite precise; it should rather be said that his thinking function in a certain area became extraordinarily developed through compensation. Because the supreme faculty corresponding to this part of the function was not only unaffected in its intake of the material four great elements, but also absorbed the nutrients of the four great elements that should originally have been delivered to other brain regions.

This is the explanation from the aspect of material form. Explaining from the aspect of mind: for a person whose supreme faculty develops normally, the functions of the six consciousnesses should develop in a balanced way. Because of the influence of the fright, this child's six consciousnesses developed in an unbalanced manner. In language, behavior, and ability to communicate with others, the six consciousnesses are clearly deficient compared with ordinary people, while in mathematical thinking, calculation, and memory, they unexpectedly received compensation. If modern medical science and technology were sufficiently advanced to classify in detail the various functions of the supreme faculty and to locate the corresponding brain tissue regions in anatomical terms, it would be found that the brain tissue and neurons responsible for mathematical thinking are especially well developed. The six consciousnesses take the faculties and sense-objects as their conditions, so the strength or weakness of the supreme faculty naturally influences the mind consciousness's thinking.

Because I lack relevant knowledge of medicine and physiology, I cannot give a detailed explanation in this respect; let me instead give an example from the perspective of Yogācāra.