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The girls, whose brains are fused together, share a thalamus, which sends physical sensations and motor functions to the cerebral cortex. (SUPPLIED)
Tatiana and Krista Hogan will experience the world together like no other set of twins.
The four-year-old girls, born in Vancouver, are able to see through each other’s eyes and experience each other’s emotions.
The girls, whose brains are fused together, share a thalamus, which sends physical sensations and motor functions to the cerebral cortex.
Craniopagus twins fused at the head are rare, accounting for only one in 2.5 million births.
The pair live with their parents, Felicia Simms and Brendan Hogan, three siblings and eight other family members in their grandparent’s home that has 10 bedrooms and eleven bathrooms.
Like their brothers and sisters the twins enjoy playing dolls, reading books and watching their favourite TV show Toopy and Binoo.
“There is room for everyone,” laughs McKay.
Doug Cochrane, a pediatric neurosurgeon from B.C. Children’s hospital, has been looking after the girl’s health since their birth.
“The twins are sharing signals from the other twin’s visual field,” he told two B.C. documentarians.
He says one twin may see what the other twin does, as the brain of one of the girls receives electronic impulses from the retina of the opposite twin.
Doting grandmother McKay says the girls are polite, happy and well behaved. They enjoy playing with their siblings, especially their younger sister, 2-year-old Shaylee. She calls the trio the three musketeers.
When playing, one of the girls will reach over and grab something from her sister’s side and know exactly where it is without possibly being able to see it, explains McKay.
“It’s absolutely awesome to watch them sometimes because there’s no way she can see it,” she said.
The girls may share more than just sight.
If one of the girls is hurt, the other can feel it and if you discipline one the other will also cry, said McKay, a trait that makes parenting a challenge.
“You don’t want the other one feeling bad because sis’s done something wrong and she hasn’t,” she said.
Krista is the bossy one of the pair, while Tatiana is more laid-back and follows Krista wherever she wants to go. They recently taught each other how to go down a slide.
“Who knows what they are going to do because they have an advantage over the rest of us, they have two brains to use,” says McKay.
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