The Paradoxical Brain

Disorders of the brain and its sensory organs have traditionally been associated with deficits in movement, perception, cognition, emotion and behaviour. It is, however, increasingly recognised that paradoxical enhancement of functioning may occur in some settings. This article provides a selective review of such phenomena - better-than-normal performance after brain lesions; situations where two lesions can be better than one; and enhanced functioning in people with sensory toss. Such findings provide an impetus far the nascent field of positive neuropsychology, and offer new avenues to understand brain-behaviour relationships, with both theoretical and therapeutic implications.