This condition is known as cerebellar agenesis. A review of many of the case studies was done by a prominent cerebellum researcher [1]. Typically the individuals that survive past birth live relatively normal lives but with impaired motor skills which are slower to develop. Their abilities are remarkable given that acute lesions to the cerebellum result in much more significant impairments (e.g. not being able to touch your nose with the tip of your finger in one smooth, coordinated movement).<p>These individuals probably also exhibit diminished cognitive function as well. Only recently has it been recognized that the cerebellum is also involved in cognition [2]. It's interesting to note that you don't need a cerebellum to move or think, but the loss of it impairs both. Contrast this to damage to your motor cortex which can result in paralysis.<p>[1] Glickstein, M (1994). Cerebellar Agenesis. Brain, 117, 1209-1212.
[2] <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23996631" rel="nofollow">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23996631</a>
This also reminds me of Hemispherectomy[0] where an entire half of the brain is surgically removed in extreme cases to prevent seizures. And amazingly, especially if you do this on younger children:<p>"Studies have found no significant long-term effects on memory, personality, or humor,[4] and minimal changes in cognitive function overall."<p>If you don't _really_ need half of the brain and you don't _really_ need the cerebellum, I wonder how little (and what part) of the brain we actually do _really_ need. And then there are so many people living just fine with lesions in so many parts of the brain.<p>It's just amazing. Imagine going into our code bases and tearing out entire classes or modules; That wouldn't go down well.<p>[0] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemispherectomy" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemispherectomy</a>
I love how these kinds of discoveries challenge, if not out right shatter, our current scientific understanding of human beings.<p>Again, I recommend Gattaca movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/" rel="nofollow">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/</a><p>Don't let medical science try to dictate your potential based on gender, race or anything about your DNA. They're only right until they find out they're wrong.
This is fascinating because the cerebellum is part of the "reptilian brain", one of the three sections of the mammalian triune brain that include the limbic and neocortex as well.<p>The reptilian brain is responsible for basic motor functions, heart rate, temperature regulation, and balance, and evolutionarily seems to be the part of the brain that is most connected to that of ancient fish and reptiles, as the name implies.<p>A person who is missing a portion of this rigid subsystem should still be able to think, process new information, and remember it, but might suffer from imbalance and other basic health issues as in fact this woman does. Yet, she can do lots of stuff. Apparently the surviving portions of her reptilian brain are able to compensate for the loss of the cerebellum.<p>It sheds a whole new light on a phrase like "my cold reptilian hindbrain tells me to ruthlessly proceed". We think of ourselves having this sort of emotionless hindbrain that is moderated by the more modern brain centers for sympathy, empathy, emotion, and higher reasoning. But what if in fact there is no such thing as a ruthless, primitive hindbrain and we are all completely in charge of our behavior, ethically and emotionally speaking?<p><a href="http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_05/d_05_cr/d_05_cr_her/d_05_cr_her.html" rel="nofollow">http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_05/d_05_cr/d_05_cr_her/d...</a>
>"[...] the woman joins an elite club of just nine people who are known to have lived without their entire cerebellum. A detailed description of how the disorder affects a living adult is almost non-existent, say doctors from the Chinese hospital, because most people with the condition die at a young age and the problem is only discovered on autopsy."<p>Is this woman the only one of the nine to have lived this long? Incredible given how critical the cerebellum is.
This is fascinating considering that the cerebellum contains <i>more neurons than the rest of the brain</i>(!) (source: <a href="http://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s3/chapter05.html" rel="nofollow">http://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s3/chapter05.html</a>). I wonder what other problems she experiences (the article only says she started speaking and walking at age 6-7).
I hope she knows all the lyrics to The Ramones' "Teenage Lobotomy".<p>"Then I guess I'll have to tell 'em / That I've got no cerebellum."<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ssoBUb2cJk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ssoBUb2cJk</a>
The brain knows how to survive, that's for sure... <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/woman.brain/index.html?iref=24hours" rel="nofollow">http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/woman.brain/index.html?...</a>
The upper image which I assume is her MRI scan is interesting. It isn't just her cerebellum missing - her brain stem looks odd too. Where is the pons? Where are the cranial nerves attaching? Need more images!
Edit. On closer reading this article isn't great. <<Doctors did a CAT scan and immediately identified the source of the problem – her entire cerebellum was missing (see scan, below left)>>. Assuming it isn't some sort of problem related to me viewing the article on a phone, that image is an MR. No CATs involved.
> Her doctors describe these effects as "less than would be expected"<p>Understatement of the century? I wonder, then, what parts of the brain (if any) truly are essential for conscious thought?
Remember things like this when people talk about biological differences between men and women's brains. Studies sometimes find tiny differences, and then some people claim that's why 19 out of 20 board members are men. It's not bias, it's science!<p>But if people can live missing massive chunks of their brain, is it <i>really</i> believable that tiny differences can cause such massive societal outcomes?
Better article and original source. <a href="http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/08/22/brain.awu239.full" rel="nofollow">http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/08/22/bra...</a>
I'm being sincere here. I am surprised and excited to see interest in this. Someone very close to me has no discernible cerebellum and no one we've seen or known has ever considered it medically interesting.
Is the picture of the CT scan real or just an illustration? Because I would assume that even if the woman doesn't have a cerebellum the brain should expand to occupy that space.
It's strange how materialists of all sorts (just look at the comments) take it for granted that, no matter how scientifically absurd, these facts cannot be used as evidence for non-materialistic explanations of the life and the world. Everything will be explained by materialistic science, and that is settled.