The Woman With a Hole in Her Brain

The article claims that a 24 year old woman had been able survive without her cerebellum.  The discovery was made when the woman was admitted into a Chinese hospital with a chronic headache, and further CAT scans showed that cerebrospinal fluid had built up in the area where the cerebellum is. The cerebellum plays a key role in control voluntary movements and actions. A damaged cerebellum for a human can result in mental impairment, motor deficiency, and mild speech problems. The women joins just nine people in the world to survive without the cerebellum, while most missing the cerebellum occasionally die at a young age.

What Happens if You Are Missing Your Frontal Lobe?

There have been numerous cases of people living despite frontal lobe trauma, the most notable being the 1800's miner Phineas Cage, who survived a metal rod blowing straight through his skull and obliterating his whole frontal lobe. Without the frontal lobe, most human subjects prove to be socially awkward or inept. They can have frequent mood swings and be easily irritated, even of events that do not affect them. Frontal lobe trauma victims are also noted to be unmotivated and lack inhibition to complete tasks. A worst case scenario for frontal lobe trauma victims is that they become completely paralyzed, as their motor cortex in both hemispheres are damaged. Despite these limiting factors, humans can indeed live without their frontal lobe, but such limits restrict victims from fully living life.