The Woman With a Hole in Her Brain

This article is about a woman who is missing her cerebellum. The cerebellum's function is to control voluntary movements and balance, and it is also thought to be involved in our ability to learn specific motor actions and speak. She lived in oblivion until she was 24 when she had to go to the doctor because she had reported dizziness and trouble walking. Her brain has adapted to function without her cerebellum and she doesn't report too many hindrances. This woman is defying what we already know since she has lived a lot longer than the other 9 people who have lived without a cerebellum. 

Broca's area is linked to speech production. Broca's area is named this after a man named Broca who discovered that patients with aphasia in this region of the brain were able to form cognizant thoughts, but they were not able to put these thoughts into words or write them down. It is possible to live without this region of your brain, though it would be very difficult to communicate with others as they would only be able to think things and not be able to put them into words or writing. Other parts of the brain may be able to take over so that the deficit is not as apparent, but there would still be detrimental effects if Broca's area was removed or severely damaged. Other areas, such as the area of hand movement for signaling will become more fine-tuned so that hand signaling could be used to communicate instead of words.