# Brain and Brain! What is Brain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 23, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832 "2007-07-23T13:35:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/21 "2007-07-23T23:24:18Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] That’s what I wondered, but if the brain is just a radio transciever for the soul, then this guy is equally lacking in that department. [/QUOTE] I thought that they were used to cool the blood. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/22 "2007-07-23T23:28:11Z")
I bet this guy would just make the zombies more pissed off. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/23 "2007-07-23T23:45:32Z")
No, I’m sure the guy would qualify as a light appetizer. Or an apertif. Kidding aside, that is really… wow. Is there any more information on how all the tissues interconnect with each other in that kind of situation? How do they work together? ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/24 "2007-07-23T23:46:49Z")
The cortex/outer layer makes you smart. In the OP’s case, it appears that the brain is intact, just pressed outward by a liquid inner core. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/25 "2007-07-24T00:00:37Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] No, I’m sure the guy would qualify as a light appetizer. Or an apertif. [/QUOTE] More like [chewing gum.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshen_Up_Gum) ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/26 "2007-07-24T00:20:04Z")
Think of the opportunities that such a condition would offer. For example, agricultural colleges may surgically implant a clear plastic [window](http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=306) into the stomach of a cow, to better examine the digestive process. What about a similar hatch for the skull, to better exploit that additional space? Sure, there’d be some problems with leakage, but you could probably line the cavity with teflon or something. You could put an LED inside your head, and turn it on when you get an idea! You could keep tropical fish or sea monkeys in there! Never worry about losing your keys again! “Thanks for letting me borrow your Chapstick, Denise! Here it is… INSIDE MY HEAD!” ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/27 "2007-07-24T00:28:03Z")
I wonder, perhaps, if those who suffer from this extreme form of hydrocephaly and still score above average on IQ tests have some how managed to recruit their enteric nervous system - the one lining the GI tract, where for instance 90% of all serotonin is manufactured - to perform some of the necessary functions. And besides, _damn!_ I thought I’d heard it all! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/28 "2007-07-24T00:29:24Z")
I just remember all the smarmy rebuttals to the idea that 90 percent of your brain goes unsused, to the effect that the whole brain is used and vitally necessary to normal human functions. This evidence seems to rebut that notion rather handily. Are you guys claiming that the entire brain is compressed to a thin layer around the skull and is functioning normally, just with an abnormal shape? Seems quite counterintutive to me. I’d like some cites or something. I smell BS all over the place around here. Somep’ns wrong, somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/29 "2007-07-24T00:37:58Z")
Thing is, our brains are custom-wired by themselves as they develop - this guy’s brain has less resources with which to do the job, but it appears to have done it quite workably. That doesn’t mean that the middle 90% of yours or my brain could be scooped out with a melon baller and leave us functional, because as our brains were developing, they made use of the material in the middle too. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/30 "2007-07-24T00:39:12Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] I bet this guy would just make the zombies more pissed off. [/QUOTE] Like those damn hollow chocolate bunnies I got as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/31 "2007-07-24T00:55:08Z")
[QUOTE=Litoris] I almost posted about this, myself. I found it very interesting – all jokes aside. I have always said that the human body is amazing in how it will continue to work and find new ways of working when the “normal” ways are missing or inhibited. From reading the article, it seems that it is what it appears to be – fluid filled sacs. The guy had been treated for water on the brain as a child, and then had the drain tubes removed. It would appear that his issue continued, but his body (and brain) adapted. I think the scariest part is that the French allow people with an IQ of 75 (or was it 77?) to work as _tax/accounting clerks_. EEK! [/QUOTE] That’s craziness. Not just hte part about the human body, which is an amazing machine, but the part about the low fruit-made-civil servant. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/32 "2007-07-24T01:47:34Z")
Lionel, are you pondering what I’m pondering? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/33 "2007-07-24T01:54:52Z")
[QUOTE=engineer\_comp\_geek] > **[alternativescience.com](http://www.alternativescience.com/no_brainer.htm)** > > Find information, resources and relevant links for alternativescience.com. This domain may be for sale. [/QUOTE] “Is your brain you really necessary?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/34 "2007-07-24T02:08:38Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] “Is your brain you really necessary?” 😃 [/QUOTE] It does seem especially appropriate considering the next article on that site: [Is the Sun really hot?](http://www.alternativescience.com/is_the_sun_hot.htm) “The question seems, on the face of it, almost insane.” Yeah, almost. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/35 "2007-07-24T02:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] … What about a similar hatch for the skull, to better exploit that additional space? Sure, there’d be some problems with leakage, but you could probably line the cavity with teflon or something. You could put an LED inside your head, and turn it on when you get an idea! … [/QUOTE] Better to have it light when you open the hatch, like a fridge. The hatch would need to be on top, to prevent spillage. Maybe you could replace the water with oil, put in a heating element, and have a deep fryer. And if he can survive draining the water, he would be the best drug mule EVER. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/36 "2007-07-24T02:34:04Z")
Re the thread title: Is that from [Bride of the Monster](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047898/quotes)? ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/37 "2007-07-24T02:45:52Z")
[QUOTE=phouka] I wonder, perhaps, if those who suffer from this extreme form of hydrocephaly and still score above average on IQ tests have some how managed to recruit their enteric nervous system - the one lining the GI tract, where for instance 90% of all serotonin is manufactured - to perform some of the necessary functions. [/QUOTE] Not sure about the G.I. tract, but I’ve often been accused of thinking with my dick. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/38 "2007-07-24T02:55:51Z")
[QUOTE=Enter the Flagon] Not sure about the G.I. tract, but I’ve often been accused of thinking with my dick. 🙂 [/QUOTE] This guy could really get mind-fucked and hardly notice. Which makes me re-think possible hatch designs, but not necessarily the hot oil concept. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/39 "2007-07-24T03:34:26Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] Re the thread title: Is that from [Bride of the Monster](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047898/quotes)? [/QUOTE] _Star Trek_, Episode 61 (Season 3): [“Spock’s Brain.”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708449/quotes) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832/40 "2007-07-24T03:45:46Z")
I dunno, but that guy is at serious risk of being drafted to run for the French Parliament. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-and-brain-what-is-brain/412832.md?page=3)