In September, I read an article about a Chinese woman who was born without a cerebellum. The cerebellum is the area of the brain responsible for so many important functions, such as coordinating movement and balance. Damage to the cerebellum once it has been developed can lead to permanent, irreversible damage. This woman represents the 9th case ever presented. According to her mother, she hadn’t been able to walk until the age of 4, and hadn’t been able to speak properly until the age of 6. Clearly, the absence of her cerebellum caused her issues, but not nearly as significant as one might expect.

After going back and reading the newspaper article , I went and found the original research paper(a letter to the editor of Brain – an Oxford Journal of Neurology) published by the Chinese doctors who treated this woman (see below for the research article by Yu et al.). Her condition was discovered after coming in to the hospital complaining of dizziness that had lasted over a month. After performing a CT scan, neurologists discovered that the area where the cerebellum should have been was filled with nothing other than cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). With the cerebellum estimated to contain over half of the neurons in a normal healthy brain (even though it only contains 10% of the volume), the cerebellum is estimated to be one of the most important areas of the brain functionally. The fact that this woman is still alive, despite having some developmental difficulties, is amazing. It is clear evidence of how resilient the brain is to damage, even more so if the defects are congenital.

In my opinion, scientific discoveries such as this one will never cease to amaze me. The mere fact that the brain is so capable of adapting based on different conditions baffles me. It fascinates me that the brain is not only able to recognize that there is a deficit in a specific area, but also is able to act on those deficits and alter connections so that it can resume somewhat normal functioning. Sure, this woman was unable to walk properly her entire life, and had severe balance issues. However, she was able to walk, talk and move around relatively easily in comparison to someone who had a cerebellum until her age and then had it removed.

Works Cited:

Yu, Feng, Qing-jun Jiang, Xi-yan Sun, and Rong-wei Zhang. “A New Case of Complete Primary Cerebellar Agenesis: Clinical and Imaging Findings in a Living Patient.” Brain: A Journal of Neurology (2014): 1-5. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://brain.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/content/early/2014/08/22/brain.awu239#ref-list-1>.