A man with a rare condition has clinicians in the Brazil scratching their heads after the skin on his scalp began to loosen and form the shape of a brain.

Published in the New England Medical Journal, Doctor Karen Regina Rosso Schons of the Hospital Universitario de Santa Maria wrote her findings in the case of a 21-year-old man who presented with large folds in his scalp which began forming when he was 19.

"Physical examination revealed excessive growth of the scalp, with the formation of convoluted folds and furrows in a cerebriform pattern.

"The patient had intellectual impairment, although he had no symptoms of neurologic or psychiatric disorders," she said.

His ailment has been identified as Cutis Verticis Gyrata - a medical condition which is visible through the thickening of the scalp.

As the scalp thickens, fold and ridges appear on the top of the scalp, which are normally soft and spongy.

In the NEMJ the folds were described as occurring in a cerebriform pattern, which resemble the surface of the brain.

Schon's said no treatment was attempted because the patient had no associated disorders and the condition did not bother him cosmetically. 

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