A Shrinking Brain

A little boy named Jason Egan from Australia has a condition that is possibly a new mutation never before recorded in history. Since he was about two years old, he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy because of his tense muscles, and his speech- but when he was 6 years old everything changed. Jason had learned sign language to communicate, and could even say a few words, but he seemed to start rapidly deteriorating. He could no longer sign, speak, or even feel pain. Doctors began testing him for every neurological condition under the sun, and one scan showed that his brain was actually shrinking.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="208" caption="Jason Egan, with His Father"][/caption]

The news of the child's shrinking brain baffled doctors, and since this discovery he has negatively tested for every known neurological disorder that there is. It is thought that Jason has a unique mutation that has caused his brain to shrink, most notably the Cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls movement. The good news, however, is that Jason's brain has stopped shrinking as a recent brain scan showed. The overall size of his brain has not changed and doctors indicate that this is a good sign, and he may be able to live a life similar to that of a person with cerebral palsy. While this situation is a depressing one, it opens new doors in the fields of genetics and neurological dis0rders.