Every now and then we read news that can baffle even the most knowledgeable people or the experts in their particular field. In this case of Chase Britton, the experts in lab coat are definitely flummoxed with his case. The second son of Heather and David Britton was born prematurely, was legally blind and when he was 1 year old it was discovered that he is without a cerebellum and pons. The cerebellum is the region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control, and though it does not initiate movement it does contribute to coordination, precision, and accurate timing. Pons, on the other hand the part of the brain stem that controls basic functions, such as sleeping and breathing. The pons has nuclei that deal primarily with sleep, respiration, swallowing, bladder control, hearing, equilibrium, taste, eye movement, facial expressions, facial sensation, and posture. It also contains the sleep paralysis center of the brain as well as generating the dreams of REM sleep.

A human brain, with the cerebellum colored in purple                                   Drawing of the human brain, showing cerebellum and pons.

According to his mother, Chase is a happy person who loves to play tricks on people and aims to make people smile. While some people might feel that his is a really sad story, his family does not believe so especially because the whole family is extremely happy and Chase is well-loved. His being without cerebellum and pons was discovered when experts in medical uniform did an MRI expecting to find Chase has a mild cerebral palsy. What they saw was only fluid where the cerebellum and the pons should be. And very bright and specialized people in lab coat are bewildered. To these experts, the absence of these 2 parts is a mystery that has made them thinks about what they all thought they knew about the brain. Neurologists say the occurrence is impossible because Chase has the MRI of a vegetable.

Intensifying the mystery is the fact that when Britton was pregnant, ultrasound pictures show that he has a cerebellum when he was inside her womb. She was closely monitored by her doctors since she has already lost one child who was also born premature and she had a complicated pregnancy. Ultrasound was made during the various fetal development and detailed pictures confirm the presence of cerebellum. But what happened to it is the mystery that has confounded even a lab coat clad expert like Dr. Adre du Plessis, chief of Fetal and Transitional Medicine at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C

According to my research, the cerebellum is relatively well protected compared to the frontal and temporal lobes and brain stem. And we should be thankful for that especially because the cerebellum is involved in the coordination of voluntary motor movement, balance and equilibrium and muscle tone. Any Damage to the cerebellum can lead to:

1. Loss of coordination of motor movement (asynergia),
2. The inability to judge distance and when to stop (dysmetria),
3. The inability to perform rapid alternating movements (adiadochokinesia),
4. Movement tremors (intention tremor),
5. Staggering, wide based walking (ataxic gait),
6. Tendency toward falling,
7. Weak muscles (hypotonia),
8. Slurred speech (ataxic dysarthria), and
9. Abnormal eye movements (nystagmus).

But, Chase does not just have damaged cerebellum. He does not have one and even an expert like Dr du Plessis admits Chase situation challenges ‘fundamental principles’. Despite having balance problems, little Gremlin (as he is fondly called by parents) learned to sit up, then crawl and is now learning to walk with the help of a frame. He has even started studying at a special pre-school near their New York home.