# Elective cosmetic cranial brain surgery **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938 "2007-02-20T07:26:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/1 "2007-02-20T07:26:17Z")
Hello all you happy people, First of all, I should preface this by saying I am absolutely not considering going through with this operation in real life. I am also not going to perform it on children, animals, or any organism beginning with the letter J. My question is the following: Let’s say that I was tired of my gorgeous locks of hair, and I wanted to shave my head; however, a mere bald head would not be enough to satisfy my cosmetic cravings. No, I must go beyond that! I wish to remove the top half of my cranium and replace it with a plexiglass dome. This would allow my brain to be visible. From maybe 2 inches above my eyebrows, to the midpoint of my anterior skull, my cognitive organ would be on display. I would highly enjoy walking around town and displaying my cognitive powers on a most visceral level. Maybe sometimes I would wear a hat, and when asked ‘what are you thinking,’ I would reply: “this” and thus display my prominent thinking apparatus. Obviously, the problems with this cosmetic surgery are manifold. How do I enable the brain to breathe? How will the blood that normally flows through the scalp flow through the cranial cavity. I am not a doctor, so I am probably already forgetting things that would prove problematic. At this point, I rely on The Dope and its denizens for help. This question may seem asinine, but I wish that it’s treated with the utmost sincerity. Cordially, Autolycus ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/2 "2007-02-20T07:37:45Z")
The blood in your scalp is there to feed your scalp, not your brain. Your brain gets its blood from the carotid arteries in your neck. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/3 "2007-02-20T07:47:42Z")
You’d never get laid again. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/4 "2007-02-20T08:05:24Z")
First of all, you wouldn’t be able to see the brain, because it’s covered with the three layers of [meninges](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meninges) that protect it from injury and supply blood and nutrients. The vascular connections to keep the skin and muscles of the face alive would take hours if possible at all. The nerves of the face, ears and back of the head would be even more problematic. The brain is very temperature sensitive as well. A prolonged temperature of 105°F and above will cause brain damage. Having the sun shining directly on it wouldn’t be a good thing. The brain has no moving parts, so watching you think would be even more boring than watching grass grow. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/5 "2007-02-20T08:34:15Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] The brain has no moving parts [/QUOTE] Well, maybe yours doesn’t. Mine is powered by steam and clockwork mechanisms. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/6 "2007-02-20T08:38:11Z")
Curse you, **Autolycus**! Curse you! I’ve just spent 15 minutes rummaging around boxes in the basement looking for a book. I finally found it. The Mind, from the LIFE Science Library (c)1964. In it, on page 186-7, is a photo with this caption: > [@](#): > > \*\*SKULLS EXPOSED FOR STUDY \*\* Monkeys fitted with transparent plastic skulls allow scientists to observe effects of drugs and electric shock on the brain’s arteries. Under shock, brain circulation remains normal much longer than the rest of the body, enabling a most vital organ to function in emergencies. I don’t have a scanner, but I took a picture of the page with my digital camera and uploaded it for you. I’m not hyperlinking the URL because it’s slightly graphic. BEHOLD! MONKEY BRAIN: > **[ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](https://imageshack.com/)** > > Host your images online with an easy to use image uploader, albums, photo hosting, sharing, dynamic image resizing on web and mobile. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/7 "2007-02-20T09:24:19Z")
I suspect that poor monkey didn’t live too long after that. ---
**Author:** ![Alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/8 "2007-02-20T11:19:40Z")
You might wanna read [this](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3706631.stm) story. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/9 "2007-02-20T11:37:13Z")
[QUOTE=sturmhauke] I suspect that poor monkey didn’t live too long after that. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but if he hadn’t undergone the procedure…he’d be forgotten. Long incinerated or mulched with all the other mute, inglorious research monkeys over the decades. But now, he’s “that monkey with the plastic brain dome.” He’s _immortal._ How many of us will ever leave _half_ the legacy he does? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/10 "2007-02-20T12:09:58Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] Curse you, **Autolycus**! Curse you! I’ve just spent 15 minutes rummaging around boxes in the basement looking for a book. I finally found it. The Mind, from the LIFE Science Library (c)1964. In it, on page 186-7, is a photo with this caption:I don’t have a scanner, but I took a picture of the page with my digital camera and uploaded it for you. I’m not hyperlinking the URL because it’s slightly graphic. BEHOLD! MONKEY BRAIN: > **[ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](https://imageshack.com/)** > > Host your images online with an easy to use image uploader, albums, photo hosting, sharing, dynamic image resizing on web and mobile. [/QUOTE] I had forgotten about that photo. I used it in college, along with others like it, for an essay about vivisection. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/11 "2007-02-20T19:14:15Z")
So, I guess this means that if I chose to have an operation similar to that wickedly cool chimp, that I would soon die a miserable death? ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/12 "2007-02-20T19:21:33Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] So, I guess this means that if I chose to have an operation similar to that wickedly cool chimp, that I would soon die a miserable death? [/QUOTE] My book does not imply that the monkey (I don’t think he’s a chimp) died. In fact there seems to be an implication that the plastic cranium was in place for ongoing research, and that the it went on long enough to reach useful conclusions. However, after reading what \*\*picunurse \*\* said about temperature regulation, I’d be hesitant. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elective-cosmetic-cranial-brain-surgery/392938/13 "2007-02-20T19:51:27Z")
Can I interest you in **trepanation** as a viable alternative? You can find information on DIY with a little google. http:/ /www.bmezine.com/news/people/A10101/trepan/