Having A Damaged Angular Gyrus Is Like Having A . . . Uh . . . Hm.

Scientists here in S.D. have found an area of the brain–known as the angular gyrus–that if damaged impairs a person’s ability to understand figurative speech such as metaphors.

EXCERPT:

After being pressed by the interviewers to provide deeper meaning [for metaphorical phrases they encountered], "the patients often came up with elaborate, even ingenious interpretations, that were completely off the mark," Ramachandran remarks. For example, patient SJ expounded on "all that glitters is not gold" by noting that you should be careful when buying jewelry because the sellers could rob you of your money.

GET THE STORY.

Those with damaged angular gyruses presumably would make great "straight men" in comedy acts.

(P.S. Yes, I know the title of this blog post is an incomplete similie rather than a metaphor.)

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live." View all posts by Jimmy Akin