Conjoined twins share taste, sight, feelings and thoughts | 60 Minutes Australia

[Music] in a scenic corner of British Columbia Canada in an unexceptional suburban Park I meet two extraordinary little girls Tatiana and Krista are conjoined twins a most unlikely result of life's genetic lottery like any five-year-olds they've got energy and curiosity to burn but they've also got the scientific world enthralled by their incredible brains it's like it's almost like being a hybrid their hybrid pretty much like they can do things that nobody else can do talk about teamwork when you first see Tatiana and Krista it's hard not to be confronted by how they look and given the risks and challenges that face all conjoined twins you can understand any parent deciding to not proceed with the pregnancy Felicia Hogan never had any doubts no matter what you look like you're still a human being so it doesn't matter if you're conjoined if you have an awful disease or or don't look like everybody else you are still human and that's all that really matters did you ever contemplate that terrible thought that it wasn't fair to bring the girls into the world no I think if anybody else would have had these girls they probably wouldn't even be here right now they chose the right man right yeah I think so too I feel very lucky going shopping each tween is very much her own person you are aren't you Christa in the blue dress is [ __ ] Tatiana in pink is more gentle different personalities but with an incredible mental connection you're good you're good you sure to separate brains that can behave as one like that they can sit there and not say anything to each other and all of a sudden one will pop up and grab something to eat for the other one I think there's no words being spoken between the two of them at all and they know exactly what the other one wants tickle one yeah and the other one laughs yeah you can pinch one and the other one will cry with her she's like she's feeling it so they know each other's thoughts yeah their brain stems are connected with a piece of tissue and we believe that they can see and hear each other's thoughts through that connection which is kind of Awesome it's incredibly awesome it's very awesome awesome and such a world first and then that side is connected euro scientists like dr. Todd Feinberg have gone from being initially skeptical to being simply astonished my first fact was was oh my god I just can't believe that this is real I mean it is extraordinary isn't it it's quite amazing I mean some of the some of the things sound so unusual that you just almost can't believe they're really happening from the first prenatal scan it was clear that the Hogan twins were unique here you can see each of their two heads in medical terms known as cranial Plagueis co-joined twins what are the chances just one in two and a half million it must have been terribly confusing news to hear it was very confusing I mean I've seen conjoined twins on TV but for it to actually happen to you and know that you were having these twins it was like wow that the girls are alive at all is a medical miracle their birth was a marathon operation 16 Canadian medics packed the delivery room at British Columbia's Children's Hospital two teams for each baby the girls had just a 20% chance of survival everyone held their breath [Music] I was just like yes oh my god okay they're screaming you know that was like the greatest sound ever I was just like oh my god how did you react I cried they're beautiful was a lovely thing to say wasn't it yep sure was raising Krista and Tatiana isn't easy and the entire extended family share the load Louise McKay is the girl's grandmother she's more like a second mother they certainly haven't been wrapped in cotton wool of though not know we've allowed them to be as normal as any two little girls can be you're very proud of them aren't you it's not medically possible to separate Tatiana and Krista each girl has her own organs but their vascular system works as one their blood pumps through one girl and then through to the other Tatiana is doing most of the pumping her metabolism works double-time which is why she's smaller less robust to look at Tatiana physically seems the weak one yes but she's the engine-room she's pumping all that Krista yeah she's doing all the hard work to keep them both going how their bodies work together is remarkable but it's how their brains work together that has really caught the imagination of medical researchers early tests when they were still babies revealed that their two brains are so connected they can even see for each other they covered one baby's eyes completely and then they flashed a lady in our eye and those signals were actually found on her sister's side as well as hers which means she was seen what her sister was seeing Wow four sets of eyes three brains yeah and the older the girls get the more incredible their connection to go how are you to demonstrate mum Felicia covers Krista's eyes and places a stuffed toy in front of Tatiana despite her eyes being covered Christa can still see the pig Krista what's mommy holding here's how it works the girls have completely separate brains and personalities but their brain stems are connected by what's called a thermic bridge the thalamic bridge is like a high-speed optic fiber and in their case it appears to be a two-way Highway thoughts feelings ideas can cross this bridge and into the other brain they still have functioning full brains on each side connected by this robust thalamic bridge that allows information of all manner to cross so they're plugged in essentially it's like you've got two independent television sets okay but that the K there's a cable that's running between the two of them and even though you can watch channel two over here and you can watch channel four over here every once in a while this one can turn on the station that this one is watching and to tune into it really tasty that's a good-looking cheese sandwich when they tune how they do why they tune into each other a sum of the myriad of questions that dr. Todd Feinberg would love us in order for it to work the one side which functions quite independently most of the time from the other side this one needs to tune in to the channel that the other one is watching most of the time in order to get what the other one is seeing or experiencing there are other times perhaps when one is a little tired or distracted that it spontaneously leaks over so one will taste something that the other one is eating when they really don't want to can you see your sister is she pretty now with the goal starting school this year a new wide world will open up for the PC special to you and the researchers as they explore the potential of these two beautiful minds to not just share feelings but detailed thoughts even knowledge we know now that they can share sensations the question will be as they mature and they we get to explored a little more clearly would it be conceivable that one side could think think of a tiger and the other girl would be able to say tiger for example that would really be scientifically a breakthrough and an amazing observation it would change a lot of the way we think about consciousness for example if that were the case through their scientific wonder it's difficult not to worry about Krista and Tatyana's future and at the local part we saw how tough the stairs and torts can be I don't pay attention to it they are stuck together you know what that's called it's called conjoined twins yes the world is cruel to us sometimes and sometimes it's okay and that's just the way it is knowing that personalities now how am I going to handle do you think well I think Krista's gonna be the mouthy one and she's gonna be telling people off whereas I think Tatiana will try and smother it was love for all the challenges all the triumphs the playa hid these happy mischievous five-year-olds our an astonishing reminder that it's what's on the inside that really counts before you know it they'll be grown-up yep they'll be teenagers too girls teenagers I'm dreading what are your hopes and dreams for them just to be themselves and to do whatever they feel they what they want to in life they're very special little girls hello I'm Liz Hayes thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our Channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusives 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 2,468,145

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter, Overton, Karl Stefanovic, Ray Martin, Peter Stefanovic, Jana Wendt, Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, conjoined twins, medical mystery, neuroscience, Tatiana and Krista Hogan, Felicia Hogan, twins, historical, telepathy, telekinetic, experiments

Id: N1Mac4FeKXg

Length: 11min 30sec (690 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 19 2018