ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Wilder Penfield

Wilder Penfield was a very smart man who studied the brain. Think of your brain like a computer that controls everything you do, from playing with your toys to breathing and walking. Penfield was interested in how the brain worked and wanted to learn more about it.

He did lots of research and found out that different parts of the brain control different things. For example, one part controls your ability to talk, while another part controls your ability to see.

Penfield was also very interested in how people felt pain. He studied people who were having surgery on their brains and found out that when he touched certain parts of their brain, they would feel strange sensations. Some people felt like they were moving, even though they weren't. Others felt like they were floating or having strange thoughts.

Later on, he used this information to help people who had seizures. A seizure is when your brain sends out too many signals at once and you have a kind of "brain storm." It can be very scary and painful, and some people have seizures very often.

Penfield figured out that if he cut off the part of the brain that was causing the seizures, the person would feel better. This was a big breakthrough in medicine and helped lots of people who were suffering from seizures.

So, in short, Wilder Penfield was a very smart man who studied the brain, figured out how different parts of it worked, and used his knowledge to help people who were in pain.