# Can a decapitated head see, hear or  blink?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-decapitated-head-see-hear-or-blink/182159>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 16, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-decapitated-head-see-hear-or-blink/182159 "2003-06-16T05:08:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-decapitated-head-see-hear-or-blink/182159/1 "2003-06-16T05:08:16Z")

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Thought of this watching that Miller beer commercial where a boxer’s head is knocked off, then the head speaks. Someone else wondered too. A condemned man’s family was going to be given $$ if he blinked after he was decapitated at the Tower of London. Is this medically/neurologically possible?

I read about it in a Law school text on wills;not sure what the outcome was.

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**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-decapitated-head-see-hear-or-blink/182159/2 "2003-06-16T05:09:39Z")

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> **[Do decapitated heads briefly remain conscious?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341383/do-decapitated-heads-briefly-remain-conscious)**
>
> Dear Cecil:
> A character in the movie Wolfen said that during the days of the French guillotine, some decapitated heads actually were cognizant of their plight. Since the brain can live over a...

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-decapitated-head-see-hear-or-blink/182159/3 "2003-06-16T05:10:28Z")

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[Cecil discusses this.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_262.html)

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-decapitated-head-see-hear-or-blink/182159/4 "2003-06-16T07:10:13Z")

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Gee-zus. That’s got to be the most blood-curdling SD column I’ve ever read, by far.