A French man in his 40s shocked neurologists when scans revealed that most of his skull was filled with fluid instead of brain tissue.
An incredible case of neuroscience was described by doctors from Marseille, France, in 2007. A 44-year-old civil servant went to see doctors at a local hospital because of weakness in his left leg. In scientific publications about the case, the patient’s full name was not revealed to anyone, all people were informed was that he had a good job, was married, had two kids, and seemed to lead a typical lifestyle.
During routine checkups, doctors performed a brain scan in order to get information on what caused the patient’s condition. The results were shocking for everyone.
It turned out that almost all the space inside the man’s skull was occupied by cerebrospinal fluid, while his brain mass was squeezed to form a thin film attached to the inside wall of the skull. Scientists concluded that 90 percent of the patient’s brain mass was absent.
However, the absence of a huge amount of grey matter had not affected the man’s cognitive abilities too much; he did not experience severe memory issues, difficulties with speech and other impairments. IQ test gave the result of 75 for the man.
It was identified to have started from hydrocephalus, which is an illness due to fluid accumulation in the brain. He had suffered from the illness in his infancy stage. In the early years of life, doctors inserted a shunt into his body, which is used to lower the brain pressure.
The shunt was removed during the patient’s teenage years. As time passed, fluids began to accumulate again but in a gradual process. The brain has time to adapt during a process that takes place gradually.
This process enabled the surviving neurons to readapt. This is because regions that control actions, speaking, memory, and functions were still working despite the brain’s compression. It has become one of the most amazing cases of the phenomenon of neuroplasticity. The man never realized anything strange about himself since he did not have serious symptoms.
He only got diagnosed during his middle-aged years when the situation worsened. Brain tests revealed that even though his entire skull was filled with fluids, the tissue layer along its edges was functional. Scientists stated that the case was a challenge to conventional thoughts about the required amount of brain tissue.