Alive without brain?

[yo han go]

Not sure if Cecil allready coped with this, but there I found a very intersting arcticle in Russian Pravda newspaper about unsolved mystery of decapitated men an women who lived and operated quite for some time without head. And of course there were cases of babies born without brain, who could perform normaly qoite some time before they died. Well, article says it's becouse of our secondary brain in the groin (<- yes, this is sarcastic joke, it's in abdomen all right) ...

What da ya think?

http://english.pravda.ru/society/2003/03/26/45101.html

[Jackmannii]

I think the entire website is an excellent example of people seeming to perform almost normal activities without a functioning brain.

[Athena]

Am I the only one who's first reaction to this thread title was "I know that guy!"?

[Desmostylus]

The story was attributed to "Oleg Doronin UFOZONE".

That's probably as far as you need to look.

In other news, aliens abducted my cat, which subsequently gave birth to giant radioactive tarantulas.

[mooka]

The lower parts of the brain control your breathing. Your body would die very quickly without a brain for that reason alone. I'm sure there must be many many more reasons why your body can't survive without your brain.

[Desmostylus]

Oh, and this: Do decapitated heads briefly remain conscious? (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_221a.html)

[Shagnasty]

You might not think it is possible to live without a head but that is just because you have never heard the true story of Mike the Headless Chicken:

http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/

[Desmostylus]

I don't know whether your comment was directed at me, Shagnasty, but one of the things I got from my archive search was: Is it possible for a chicken to live with its head cut off? (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_086.html)

[ForgottenLore]

I saw the title of this thread and an image of a former boss rose unbidden to my mind.

[Mangetout]

My Skepto-Meter is registering a significant value for that site.

I'm reminded of the story about a guy (a saint IIRC) who was beheaded, then picked up his own head and kissed it (think about it).

[Squink]

Our friends in the vegetable kingdom (http://www.science.uva.nl/~robbert/zappa/albums/Mothermania/04.html) do all right without a brain.

[Lucki Chaarms]

Well, I do remember Dr. Dean Edell on the radio reading a story about a guy who was being examined for something or another and they found that he had next to no brain at all, yet he was a totally normal guy, fully capable. I was trying to find a cite, but not turning up much. If anyone can find this, I will appreciate it greatly.

I of course will keep trying.

LC

[Mangetout]

Me too Lucki - I do remember reading about a young man whose brain was found to consist largely of a hollow fluid filled cavity and yet he was quite normal in most respects, even gifted in something or other IIRC.

[Mangetout]

this (http://web.syr.edu/~sndrake/necbrain.htm) seems to say something on the subject.

[Ethilrist]

Well, my head I'd be scratchin', while my thoughts were busy hatchin', if I only had a brain.

[Ludovic]

Originally posted by Athena
Am I the only one who's first reaction to this thread title was "I know that guy!"?

Naw, my first reaction was "Me lose brain! Oh no! Why me speak?" Or something like that. Unfortunately the Simpsons are becoming Pythonish in that it becomes less funny if you cant remember the exact quote :o

[ForgottenLore]

Naw, my first reaction was "Me lose brain! Oh no! Why me speak?" Or something like that.

Maybe you're thinking of "Me fail English? That's unpossible!"

[JRootabega]

It's "Why I laugh?"

[Eirik]

Originally posted by Lucki Chaarms
Well, I do remember Dr. Dean Edell on the radio reading a story about a guy who was being examined for something or another and they found that he had next to no brain at all, yet he was a totally normal guy, fully capable. I was trying to find a cite, but not turning up much. If anyone can find this, I will appreciate it greatly.

I of course will keep trying.

LC

I recall a similar thing that I saw when we were shown a documentary in a psyhcology class about 9 years ago. In demontrating an MRI, the host of the show was found to be missing a large chunk of his brain, IIRC about the size of a couple golf balls. The host of the show barely made reference to it and moved on.

After the show was over, the proffessor mentioned that he'd known the doctor who was being primarly interviewed for the documentary and asked him about that MRI. He was told the staff practically fell out of their chairs when they saw it, but that the host seemed completely normal, outside of being a bit of a jerk. :)

[BuckleberryFerry]

Originally posted by JRootabega
It's "Why I laugh?"

To nitpick: "Me lose brain? Uh-oh ::giggle:: Why I laugh?"

[raisinbread]

Originally posted by Eirik
In demontrating an MRI, the host of the show was found to be missing a large chunk of his brain, IIRC about the size of a couple golf balls.
Are those metric golfballs or English golfballs? Without knowing I am unable to visualize the situation.

[Caesar's Ghost]

"Brain and brain. What is brain?"

I'm sorry, it's the first thing I thought of when I saw the title.

[Terrifel]

Anencephaly is a congenital malformation which occurs in one out of every thousand newborns. Affected children are missing the forebrain and most or all of the hindbrain, and usually die within hours or days. Here (http://www.anencephaly.net/anencephaly.html) is a short description of the condition, and also a discussion (http://www.aap.org/policy/04790.html) of the ethical implications of harvesting the infant's other, normal internal organs for pediatric transplants.

I also found a few pictures of anacephalic infants, but you really don't want to see them.

[Eirik]

Originally posted by raisinbread
Are those metric golfballs or English golfballs? Without knowing I am unable to visualize the situation.

As I remember it, there was a MRI section though the approximate center of the head, and the entire frontal lobe was apparently missing, just a black space in the front of the skull. Kinda strange.