Teenage Infant

[CaptainChewbacca]

Link

Brooke Greenberg is the size of an infant, with the mental capacity of a toddler.

She turned 16 in January.

"Why doesn't she age?" Howard Greenberg, 52, asked of his daughter. "Is she the fountain of youth?"

Such questions are why scientists are fascinated by Brooke. Among the many documented instances of children who fail to grow or develop in some way, Brooke's case may be unique, according to her doctor, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine pediatrician Lawrence Pakula, in Baltimore.

"Many of the best-known names in medicine, in their experience ... had not seen anyone who matched up to Brooke," Pakula said. "She is always a surprise."

Brooke hasn't aged in the conventional sense. Dr. Richard Walker of the University of South Florida College of Medicine, in Tampa, says Brooke's body is not developing as a coordinated unit, but as independent parts that are out of sync. She has never been diagnosed with any known genetic syndrome or chromosomal abnormality that would help explain why.

In a recent paper for the journal "Mechanisms of Ageing and Development," Walker and his co-authors, who include Pakula and All Children's Hospital (St. Petersburg, Fla.) geneticist Maxine Sutcliffe chronicled a baffling range of inconsistencies in Brooke's aging process. She still has baby teeth at 16, for instance. And her bone age is estimated to be more like 10 years old.

"There've been very minimal changes in Brooke's brain," Walker said. "Various parts of her body, rather than all being at the same stage, seem to be disconnected."

Brooke's mother, Melanie Greenberg, 48, sees a different picture. "She loves to shop," Greenberg said. "Just like a woman."

Brooke rides in a stroller while her mom shops for clothes in the infant sections of department stores near their home in a Baltimore suburb. That Brooke is in her mid-teens is so mind-boggling that if another mother with a toddler asks Greenberg how old Brooke is, she usually doesn't try to explain.

"My system always has been to turn years into months," Greenberg said. "So, if someone asked today, I might say, she's 16 months old."

More at the source. Its just incredible, and I can imagine it must be incredibly hard on a parent to have a child that will never grow up or learn to say 'I love you'. And how long will this last? 30 years? 50?

[tezunegari]

If whatever affects her growing process (from baby to physical adult form) also affects her aging (cellular degradation of function leading to "old age and wrinkles") then she could theoretically be living for a rather long time, unless the different aging of body parts won't kill her.

[andrewgpaul]

The original article, without the moronic replies in the thread Chewie posted.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Oops, don't sure how I accidentally did that. If someone could fix the original link, that'd be nice.

[Korvan]

If whatever affects her growing process (from baby to physical adult form) also affects her aging (cellular degradation of function leading to "old age and wrinkles") then she could theoretically be living for a rather long time, unless the different aging of body parts won't kill her.

Right, there's a difference between not developing and not aging. As she gets older which one is happening should become more evident. It's interesting to see just how dependent our mental development is on our physical development.

[Ziggy Stardust]

If whatever affects her growing process (from baby to physical adult form) also affects her aging (cellular degradation of function leading to "old age and wrinkles") then she could theoretically be living for a rather long time, unless the different aging of body parts won't kill her.

I think it is pretty absurd to think she is actually not aging. There are dozens of similar, strange developmental disorders, and they almost invariably result in a shortened life span.

[Zor]

The bit i find odd is that despite being sixteen she is still mentally an infant. I can understand an inability to walk, but i don't think that she would have stalled at a level of intellectual development that makes her on par with a Smart Dog.

Zor

[TheLostVikings]

The bit i find odd is that despite being sixteen she is still mentally an infant. I can understand an inability to walk, but i don't think that she would have stalled at a level of intellectual development that makes her on par with a Smart Dog.

Zor

Why not? Her brain probably didn't have a chance to grow for the same reason her body didn't, whatever normally sets those processes in motion simply failed to start. (which is precisely why here case is so interesting)

[Frank Hipper]

Oops, don't sure how I accidentally did that. If someone could fix the original link, that'd be nice.

I exist to serve.

[Kuroneko]

Why not? Her brain probably didn't have a chance to grow for the same reason her body didn't, whatever normally sets those processes in motion simply failed to start. (which is precisely why here case is so interesting)

It is still more than a bit surprising that learning seems to be intertwined with aging processes on such a fundamental level. While it's obvious that they are connected--puberty, emotional stability, and stably rational decision-making simply being the more obvious traits associated with changes in brain chemistry, that the brain apparently needs to be kick-started by some hormonal means before it begins learning much more basic skills, such communication, is interesting.

Well, I've no idea how surprised are the people knowledgeable in the relevant fields, but to me it was definitely an unexpected thing to learn. I would've thought the brain to learn automatically whenever the appropriate stimuli are present, rather than having some kind of internal "read-only" switch. (Although it's also possible that this lack is a separate developmental problem. The above is rather uninformed speculation, unfortunately.)

[Shroom Man 777]

Hormones control the development of just about every part of the body. The lack of thyroid hormones can cause cretinism and retardation, for example. If the body, brain included, does not get the hormonal commands to grow - then your brain will not develop the necessary faculties to learn anything at all. It's no different from other hormonal dysfunctions that prevent people from growing to any significant height, or from developing certain sex characteristics or other bodily features.

Similarly, a lot of the problems encountered by people as they grow old are because of the body no longer producing the necessary hormones to maintain certain functions in the body. That's why you get stuff like menopausal women having increased risk for osteoporosis, etc.

I guess longevity and IMMORTALITY! (*cackles*) would require tooling about the RECESSIVE GENES that regulate hormone functions.

EDIT:

Also, certain nutritional deficiencies can cause hormonal problems - since the body needs stuff like iodine to manufacture stuff like thyroid hormones. Eat too little iodized salt or seafood, and you'll give birth to hypothyroid developmentally-challenged midgets.