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Boy without a cerebellum baffles doctors

By T.K. Randall
February 17, 2011 · Comment icon

32 comments

Image Credit: sxc.hu

Chase Britton is defying all odds due to the fact that he doesn't appear to have a cerebellum.

In a story that defies all medical odds and will likely cause doctors to rethink what little we know about the brain, little Chase Britton is doing things he shouldn't be able to do because he has no cerebellum or pons. The cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls motor skills, balance and emotions. The pons controls even more basic functions like breathing and sleeping. What's more startling is that pre-natal images of little Chase clearly showed he had a cerebellum before he was born. Not only do doctors need to figure out how he is able to fuction without these two vital parts of a normal brain but they also need to figure out what happened to them when they were clearly present before birth.

Doctors found no signs of a brain bleed, hemorrhage or stroke, and no damage to any other part of his brain, Britton said. Technically, his diagnosis is cerebellar hypoplasia, which normally means a small cerebellum rather than a missing one. Chase's case, du Plessis said, challenges "fundamental principles. " And its impact is certain to reach far beyond one little boy and his family. "It is cases like this that rally the support of the medical community, that harness the interest of other investigators, that stimulate people to try and find solutions," he told WGRZ, "and those repercussions will have an impact on a much broader population of kids. "

Source: AOL News | Comments (32)

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Recent comments on this story

#23 Posted by Evilution13 13 years ago

Twinkle: Yea the adaptability of the human brain never ceases to amaze me (just jokin' about the aliens). And yea as *wirelessguru1* pointed out; mind and brain are two seperate entities. Though the 'condition' of the brain and the body are causes for the mind to come about in the first place. So it would seem.

#24 Posted by Copasetic 13 years ago

yeah, it might have been fused with some other parts of the brain or something like that, Our human body is much more advanced and capable than the researchers think is, it's just another example where medical science is proven wrong. No one in "medical science" said this couldn't happen.....Read the above post by me.

#25 Posted by StoneSmasher 13 years ago

We lose things, we do not loose them. Unless it is dogs or some other leashed thing.

#26 Posted by Mycologist 13 years ago

We lose things, we do not loose them. Unless it is dogs or some other leashed thing. Or an arrow... . . . --- Loose! Anywho... thanks Copasetic that was very informative interesting.

#27 Posted by Triade 13 years ago

reminds me of : The boy with half a brain http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/880478.stm "However, as soon as he awoke, it became clear that his brain had been very busy. He was able to speak in almost complete sentences - possessing more ability than he had managed prior to the operation. In those three days, the brain had managed to reorganise itself so that the right hemisphere could take on the speech-controlling role. "

#28 Posted by when.i.am.queen. 13 years ago

A friend of mine had epilespy from birth which made her unable to drive a car, get a job or have normal relationships with people, even as an adult she had not had a boyfriend, she would have the type of seizure where she would go into a dreamlike state and pass out, she also used to act a bit "childlike" at times and say odd stuff. She had her brain cut in half at the hospital in Adelaide(no word of a lie this really did happen) and she no longer has epilepsy and is completley normal, she drives,works and is married with a child. the brain is truly amazing. Its pretty amazing that this happen... [More]

#29 Posted by MissMelsWell 13 years ago

My question is though - what is in the space where the cerebellum - or in this case, the left hemisphere - should have been? Is it taken over by the rest of the brain, or is there just more protective cushioning, or just an empty space? When I see my aunt, I'll ask her that question! She too is missing her cerebellum! I never really thought about it, so now I'm curious too! I wonder if the doctors even know.

#30 Posted by behaviour??? 13 years ago

I am bewildered. In almost 2 years of my medical education, I have never found a case such as a missing cerebellum! However,I doubt if it will affect human as most of the memory and related stuffs are handled by the cerebrum, so most probably that he would learn to write , draw and things like that. It is an extra ordinary case, I cant wait untill they bring in more results.As far as reading the article and to the best of my knowledge, only a foetal degeneration of brain by early genetical ageing process can bring such effects, but I am wondering as to why only the cerebellum degenrated with m... [More]

#31 Posted by SpiderCyde 13 years ago

Well, where did his cerebellum go!? Brains don't just dissappear! Unless we factor in the aliens. [insert witty politician joke here] lol

#32 Posted by when.i.am.queen. 13 years ago

The only unsurprising element of the article is missing of pons. The pons contain neuron or nuclei that relay information from the forebrain to the cerebellum in whose abscence, most of which will degenrate as it is being used very less. Though not all details regarding the functions of the pons varolli are known to medical science, like Copaseptic added, the other parts of brain would take in the extra burden to play the role of the pons as well as cerebellum! Apparently, in this class I'm doing we also did a cast study on this guy whom was born without a cerebellum and a pons. From what I ga... [More]

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Boy without a cerebellum baffles doctors

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