Ep 12. Episode 12

Rocket attack survivor Cory Barron is "60 Minutes"'s guide to a remarkable new medical procedure that can rewrite an epileptic's brain waves. We first meet Cory in a drumming circle. He's seated with a group of people pounding away on conga drums, shouting "one, two, three, four" in rhythm. Cody's experience with rhythm and repetitive stimuli gets to the very heart of the little-understood form of epilepsy called "Benign Rolandic Epilepsy."

Cory Barron is one of the 30% of epilepsy sufferers who don't respond to medication. He's come to world-renowned epilepsy expert Dr. Karen Black in New York City to undergo brain surgery that will change his life. Cory's case profile is not unlike hundreds of others. Was a happy, vibrant child who – for whatever reason – developed uncontrollable "electrical storms" in his brain around the age of two. Eventually graduated out of Grand Mal seizures and into those associated with Barel-Lemit/Rolandic Epileptic Seizures, which typically hit during sleep.

Dr. KAREN BLACK (epileptologist, NYU): Generally Rolandic seizures start during sleep and tend to spread. So all of a sudden they can get quite early by [age] 12, 13, 14. The seizures are fragmented and do not last long really minutes.

What is unusual about "Benign Rolandic Epilepsy" is that the seizures individual's experience tend to be "sensory." For example, the child may feel them coming on because of tingling, sounds, flashing lights. One child, with whom Karen Black works, has seizures triggered by electric toothbrush. Others will give us uncontrollable spasms of their mouth or tongue during seizures. Treating these kids has historically been very difficult because medication can have attention-dulling side-effects. But a recent discovery made by electronic device manufacturer, Van Gogh Technologies, may give hope. It's called the "Ideal Brain Stimulator."

The '60 Minutes' team travels to Amsterdam to a private epilepsy clinic to watch the first trial of "Ideal Brain Stimulator." The newly-invented device sits directly on the skin of the skull. Its small electrical clicks 'reboot' the brainwave pattern for a few seconds to stop a child's seizure. If it works well in trials, this will be the first treatment for 'Benign Rolandic Epilepsy.'

Researcher told "60 Minutes" that the device uses brief, powerful magnetic fields to disrupt the electrical brainstorms. It's not electroconvulsive therapy. Although it's not been tested or approved for general use yet, the team attends the first real trial on an eleven-year-old girl in Holland. It is hoped that stimulation will stop her tingling or spasms so that she will be able to concentrate in school. As with many of these less-understood neurological conditions, the clinical trial is being funded by the patients, families, or religious institutions, not the pharmaceutical companies. If the trial is successful, thousands of epilepsy sufferers worldwide will benefit.

Correspondent Ed Bradley then takes viewers to Florence, Italy, to report on a previously untold story that unfolded at the famous Uffizi Galleries. Art historians have been sifting through cloth-bound, handwritten books for centuries and, just recently, uncovered a dramatic serial larceny at the turn of the last century. For several decades, brazen thieves whisked many hundreds of priceless masterpieces, quietly cutting them out of their frames and walking them out of the museum. The crime spree went largely unnoticed – and unreported – it seems because the art world didn't want the public to know.

Bradley holds up one such book, a log of paintings by Renaissance artist Botticelli. Inside Botticelli's book are carefully bound sketches and watercolors done by Leonardo da Vinci, long before "he cut off his ear." Over the course of several years, Bradley and his team researched the thefts – which particularly targeted Leonardos and Botticellis and Raphaels among other brilliant Italian artists. Together, he says, these thieves pilfered more than 3,000 works of priceless art. The law enforcement authorities finally became aware of the thefts when a brilliant art forger tried to sell off a stolen piece from Vinci's last commission - his new work, 60 Minutes' 'Ed Bradley Visits...' donates three of his Leonardo da Vincis back to the Uffizi Galleries in the process.

This Sunday evening Bradley also talks with Beverly Sills, the opera singer turned arts administrator. Bradley traveled with her when she was diagnosed with, and treated for, cancer; they spoke again recently about her new battle with terminal illness. In his familiar, personal style, Bradley finishes his emotional interview with: "You don't seem afraid" upon which the vivacious Ms. Sills splendidly rummages around her hospital bed for the answer. In 1979, Mike Wallace has an encore interview with Mohammed Ali; he's a different man at 57 then. Highly personal, Tyson talks of his youngest daughter, his confusion as a child, his absence from the sport he dominated, and his short, unglittering, comeback. Everything is 'on the table'…..but Anderson Cooper still managed to keep his shirt on. 'CBS's '60 Minutes' Sunday evening at 7 on Channel 4.