Woman unknowingly missing part of her brain for 24 years

A 24-year-old woman presented to doctors in China with a month-long history of vomiting and nausea. After obtaining a medical history, physicians also learned the young woman had lived with chronic dizziness her entire life, had stability issues while walking, and didn’t become fully mobile as a child until the age of 4.

SEE ALSO: 13 strange but true tips you never knew about health

Based on the description of the symptoms, medical staff were concerned the patient had experienced a form of brain trauma, and when they did imaging of the subject’s brain, what they found was even more alarming. Instead of brain trauma, the results showed the young woman was actually missing her cerebellum, the part of the brain associated with motor functions such as walking.

The University of Maryland Medical Center indicates the cerebellum, located at the base of the skull, assist motor function by providing smooth, coordinated body movements. When damage occurs to this area, most individuals suffer serious detriments to their motor skills and their ability to move fluidly. Some even become confined to a wheelchair or other artificial movement aids.

But the 24-year-old in question was missing her cerebellum completely–and still functioning at what most people would consider a normal level. Where the cerebellum should have been, there was only a pocket of cerebral fluid.

“It shows that the young brain tends to be much more flexible or adaptable to abnormalities,” said Dr. Raj Narayan, chair of neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital , who wasn’t involved with the woman’s case.

“When a person is either born with an abnormality or at a very young age loses a particular part of the brain, the rest of the brain tries to reconnect and to compensate for that loss or absence. As we get older, the ability of the brain to tolerate damage is much more limited,” Narayan told Live Science. “So, for example, in a 60-year-old person, if I took the cerebellum out, they would be severely impaired.”

SEE ALSO: 5 strangest cognitive disorders

Interestingly, this is not the first case of a missing cerebellum. Researchers reviewing the case indicate there have been at least 8 other similar instances reported, though most of these involved children with severe impairment as a result of the brain abnormality. Unfortunately, the majority of previous cases had a high mortality rate.