I recently came across news reports of two Pakistani boys who have been dubbed as “The Solar Kids.” It’s a fascinating medical mystery if it actually is true. Apparently, both of these boys are normal active children during the day, but as soon as the sun goes down, they collapse into a vegetative state. During this period of time, they are unable to move limbs or to say any words at all.
Their father believes that his sons are powered by the sun. To make this even more interesting, doctors have already ruled out sunlight as an important factor because both of the boys can move in a dark room during the day or even during a relatively dark storm. So what is actually going on here? That’s the million dollar question.
If I had to guess, I would probably say that doctors/scientists should be examining the hypothalamus, specifically the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Since this nucleus is responsible for regulating body functions relative to a 24-hour cycle, something may have gone awry in this area. What I’m curious about, is how their brain activity differs from control patients. I think that perhaps running an fMRI on these boys would be a useful test to examine any abnormal brain activity.
It is always good to remain cautious though. There are very few details that have emerged about this case, and it may well be (unfortunately) that these symptoms are feigned. So far, I haven’t come across any indication that it is, but I certainly hope they figure out what’s going on with these kids!
