History Main / ShrunkenOrgan

* It is well documented that brain shrinkage occurs with aging. It's part of why the elderly are encouraged to keep their minds active, since as the brain shrinks, dimentia can occur.

* One episode of WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants sees Squidward break his "laugh box" (an organ he thought he made up), which had to be removed. The doctor remarks that it's the most dried-up, underused laugh box he's ever seen; it's in a jar the size of a salt shaker. Inversely, Spongebob has a laugh box so ''big'' that he was able to donate half of it to Squidward while still retaining the capacity to do some laughing of his own.

* ''{{Dilbert}}'' tends to use this, particularly on one book cover.

'''Not under any circumstances''' [[IThoughtItMeant to be mistaken for]] the inversion of a certain trope about ''[[GagPenis that]]'' organ.

[[quoteright:149:[[TheSimpsons http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peabrain2_117.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:149:[[WesternAnimation This is your brain on animation]].]]

->The Grinch hated Christmas -- the whole Christmas season.
->Oh, please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason.
->It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
->Or maybe his head wasn't screwed on just right.
->But I think that the best reason of all

As this trope greatly exaggerates real body parts, it is a natural subtrope of YouFailBiologyForever.

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!!Examples:

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* ''DragonHalf'' has a character undamaged by a sword through the head because his brain is "compact".

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* ''{{Planetary}}'': In one issue, a giant man is seen in one panel, dying from his sudden artificial growth. His autopsy revealed "a normal-sized brain hanging in a web of nerve tissues like cables in a skull several feet across."

[[folder: Film]]
* ''TheAmazingColossalMan'': The eponymous character had a heart that didn't grow as fast as the rest of him, which led to him having constant chest pains. A scientist claimed this was because the [[YouFailBiologyForever human heart was one giant cell]].

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* ''Just Say Julie'': In one episode, a supermodel's brain exploded out of her head (not fatally) when she tried to think too hard. It was the size of a wadded-up piece of chewing gum.

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* ''{{Dilbert}}'' tends to use this, particularly on one book cover.

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* ''RenAndStimpy'': Stimpy's bean-sized brain [[WhoEvenNeedsABrain accidentally falls off when he leans down]]. Ren's cousin Sven marvels at how ''big'' it is, and then shows Stimpy his own, pinhead-sized brain.
* ''PinkyAndTheBrain'': In the TitleSequence, the two eponymous characters walk behind an X-ray machine. Brain's skull has meshing gears, while Pinky's has a peanut.

** Homer apparently has a significantly smaller than average brain. This enables him to resist blows to the head more easily than normal people, which had great effect in his brief career as a professional boxer.
* ''SouthPark'': The boys go to Afganistan and Cartman ends up in a tussle with Osama Bin Laden, during which Cartman pulls Bin Laden's pants down to show...nothing. Cartman pulls out several magnifying glasses until he finally gets enough magnification to show Bin Laden's very tiny penis, which is implied as the reason why he blew up the World Trade Center.
* ''FairlyOddParents'': In one episode Timmy swaps brains with an ordinary dog. His brain is noticably the smaller of the two.
* In ''DextersLaboratory'', Dexter decides to put a genius-level brain (...[[NightmareFuel we don't know whose]]) in his sister Dee Dee's head. He needed a pair of tweezers to remove her old one.

* One episode of SpongebobSquarepants sees Squidward break his "laugh box" (an organ he thought he made up), which had to be removed. The doctor remarks that it's the most dried-up, underused laugh box he's ever seen; it's in a jar the size of a salt shaker. Inversely, Spongebob has a laugh box so ''big'' that he was able to donate half of it to Squidward while still retaining the capacity to do some laughing of his own.

[[folder: RealLife]]

* When a person lacks the ability to use one of their senses, the brain area controlling that sense gets smaller. In a blind person, it will be the visual centers, in a deaf person the auditory centers, ect.

->'''''HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas''''', DrSeuss

In WesternAnimation, {{Anime}}, and {{Comics}} it is common to sum up behavioral problems or character flaws as being the direct result of some greatly underdeveloped organ in a character's body. Maybe said character [[HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas has a heart that is too small]] and thus cannot properly love or maybe their brain resembles the size of a golf ball and thus lacks normal intelligence. Of course, having an organ this small in RealLife would [[YouFailBiologyForever cause serious complications for most of these characters]], so this trope is very often PlayedForLaughs.

* ''HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'': The eponymous Grinch is portrayed as having a heart that is far too small to feel love properly, see quotation above.

* In an episode of ''[[CowAndChicken I.M. Weasel]]'', Weasel and Baboon get in an accident which causes their brains to fall out. Weasel has a huge brain and Baboon has a tiny brain, both disproportionate to their respective head. Understandably, [[FreakyFridayFlip the doctors get them mixed up]].

* ''TheAmazingColossalMan'': The eponymous character had a heart that didn't grow as fast as the rest of him, which led to him having constant chest pains. A scientist claimed this was because the [[YouFailBiologyForever human heart was one giant cell]].
** Muscle tissue is syncytial in that muscle cells often have continuous cell membranes with their neighbors. Still... No. Just no.

* ''TheSimpsons'': Mr. Burns' heart has been shown as a shriveled black lump that beats every now and again. Additionally, after crawling out from beneath a landslide, Mr. Burns tilted his head and banged his ear in hope of clearing out the gravel from his other ear. The gravel came flying out that ear, along with his walnut-sized brain.

Compare CompensatingForSomething, which covers instances of one particular organ being smaller than average.

* ''TheAmazingColossalMan'': The titular character had a heart that didn't grow as fast as the rest of him, which led to him having constant chest pains. A scientist claimed this was because the [[YouFailBiologyForever human heart was one giant cell]].

* ''HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'': The titular Grinch is portrayed as having a heart that is far too small to feel love properly, see quotation above.

* ''PinkyAndTheBrain'': In the TitleSequence, the two titular characters walk behind an X-ray machine. Brain's skull has meshing gears, while Pinky's has a peanut.

Compare CompensatingForSomething, which covers instances of [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean one particular organ]] being smaller than average.

* ''DragonHalf'': Has a character undamaged by a sword through the head because his brain is "compact".

* ''TheSimpsons'': Mr. Burns' heart has been shown as a shriveled black lump that beats every now and again.
** Additionally, after crawling out from beneath a landslide, Mr. Burns tilted his head and banged his ear in hope of clearing out the gravel from his other ear. The gravel came flying out that ear, along with his walnut-sized brain.

* [[DextersLaboratory Dexter]] decided to put a genius-level brain (...[[NightmareFuel we don't know whose]]) in his sister Dee Dee's head. He needed a pair of tweezers to remove her old one.

** Muscle tissue is syncytial in that muscle cells often have continuous cell membranes with their neighbors. Still...[[NoJustNo No. Just no.]]

** That said, there ''are'' kidney disorders that can make your kidneys shrivel up and get tiny and nonfunctional; the general response is to leave 'em there as decoration and add a new one to do the actual renal work; once both of the originals have shriveled, there can be more than enough room for a third (or ''fourth'') without distending anything.

** That said, there ''are'' kidney disorders that can make your kidneys shrivel up and get tiny and nonfunctional; the general response is to leave 'em there as decoration and add a new one to do the actual renal work.

* ''RenAndStimpy'': Stimpy's bean-sized brain accidentally falls off when he leans down. Ren's cousin Sven marvels at how ''big'' it is, and then shows Stimpy his own, pinhead-sized brain.

* ''FairlyOddParents'': In one episode Timmy swaps brains with an ordinary dog. His brain is noticably the smaller of the two.