Dr Daniel Hier, of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, believes the research has implications for rehabilitation strategies.

BBC: Brain has great recovery powers

"I think it's, quite frankly, preposterous, " Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles told CNN in September.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

"Casting him as a director or star of Judah Maccabee is like casting Bernie Madoff to be the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, " Hier said at the time.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS