Experts say Rep. Gabrielle Giffords faces months of difficult rehabilitation and may always have impairments. "[Her injury] is in her dominant hemisphere. That's not good," said Christopher Loftus, chair of Neurosurgery at Temple's School of Medicine. "It's going to be a long, difficult road." In cases like Giffords', surgeons clear away blood clots, dead tissue and debris and repair the dura, the outer covering of the brain, so cerebrospinal fluid doesn't leak out, Loftus said.

The shooting rampage in Tucson has prompted calls for a toning down of political rhetoric. Is it a reset moment for confrontational politics? Temple political scientist Robin Kolodny says past political debates, such as those surrounding the rights of women and African-Americans, were equally heated. She's not seeing an escalation in political violence. "This actually masks the fact that our elected officials have a lot of threats like this all the time," Kolodny said. (Note: Link below leads directly to audio MP3.)

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