JINAN, China, Sept. 12 (UPI) —
Even without knowing much about the different parts of the brain, the "cerebellum" just sounds necessary for survival. But after a woman in China came to the emergency room complaining of dizziness and nausea, doctors were flabbergasted to find the woman was missing the small but vital portion of the brain.
It’s only the ninth time in all of human history a person has been found to be missing his or her cerebellum. Most previous cases were only discovered after the individuals died prematurely.
Doctors who treated the 24-year-old woman said the fact that she had survived for so long without this vital portion of her brain was remarkable. They relayed their discovery to researchers at the journal Brain; the case was briefly mentioned in the latest issue.
The cerebellum makes up only a small mass located at the back of the skull; but the tiny chunk holds more neurons than the entire rest of the brain combined, and it is key to motor skills, balance and many basic mental functions.
The young woman told doctors she didn’t learn to speak until age six and only began walking at age seven — understandable for someone missing an essential component of the brain. Scientists surmise her cortex may have assumed some of the responsibilities of the missing cerebellum, but a limited amount of research suggests living without a cerebellum significantly reduces one’s life expectancy.
It’s likely a frightening prognosis for the young woman, but it will be a rare opportunity for scientists to study how the human brain adapts to such unusual and difficult circumstances.
"These rare cases are interesting to understand how the brain circuitry works and compensates for missing parts," Mario Manto, a neuroscientist at Free University of Brussels in Belgium, told New Scientist.
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