# How long would a decapitated head live? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271 "2005-12-19T07:02:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/1 "2005-12-19T07:02:27Z")
I haven’t been on in a while so forgive me if this question has been asked already…anyway I checked and didn’t see it so here goes. Is it true that if somebody was decapitated their head would live for 15-20 minutes until the brain shut down from lack of oxygen? ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/2 "2005-12-19T07:18:42Z")
[The Master Speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_262.html) ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/3 "2005-12-19T07:45:43Z")
Ok 15 -20 seconds not minutes…how scary. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/4 "2005-12-19T09:55:28Z")
> [@START](#): > > Ok 15 -20 seconds not minutes…how scary. ☹ Personnally, despite the confidence the author has in his friend’s testimony, I don’t buy it. Even Cecil’s second hand account of the perception of a traumatic event is still only a second hand account of the perception of a traumatic event. And no, I don’t volunteer for an experiment. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/5 "2005-12-19T12:37:08Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Personnally, despite the confidence the author has in his friend’s testimony, I don’t buy it. Even Cecil’s second hand account of the perception of a traumatic event is still only a second hand account of the perception of a traumatic event. > > And no, I don’t volunteer for an experiment. Be that as it may, there is still a considerable body of antecdotal evidence to suggest that a severed head might remain conscious for several seconds. The only evidence that it can’t, so far as I can see, is wishful thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/6 "2005-12-19T12:51:50Z")
**Diceman** seems to have it. If anyone can give a good reason why a decapitated head _wouldn’t_ survive for twenty seconds or so we’re all ears. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/7 "2005-12-19T13:18:10Z")
Well, the event of decapitation might result in a fluid pressure wave equivalent to a hard blow on the head and that might be enough to render the brain swiftly unconscious, or the massive trauma, especially to the spinal column, might just ‘overload’ the brain into shutting down (or cause such severe disorientiation that the term ‘consciousness’ might no longer be appropriate), but then again, it might not. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/8 "2005-12-19T13:43:46Z")
This was asked in the horror movie **The Wolfen** back in the 1980s, with a forensic examiner weighing in that the head would live a few seconds. I don’t think it was researched or meant to be taken seriously – it was really a set-up for a scene later in the movie where one of these guys gets himself decapitated by one of the titular werewolves. In the scene with the head on the pavement you see it moving its lips briefly, and you realize that the head is still alive and conscious. A nifty willies-inducing moment in a generaly overlooked flick. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/9 "2005-12-19T15:15:36Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > …we’re all ears. Good phrase in this particular thread. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/10 "2005-12-19T16:31:30Z")
Reminds me of Sir Walter Raleigh (with Head) lying his cape over a puddle of cobblestone water whilst the queen exits her carraige so not to dampen her royal shoes. Sir Walter is later beheaded an apparently had 20 seconds or so to think about his misgivings. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/11 "2005-12-19T16:53:42Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > If anyone can give a good reason why a decapitated head _wouldn’t_ survive for twenty seconds or so we’re all ears. The best argument I’ve heard so far is that for people who have ever blacked out or felt woozy from standing up too quickly (due to low blood pressure or whatever) the effect is pretty much instant. This leads to the argument that the sudden drop in blood pressure would cause the decapitated head to lose conciousness in about a second. I always thought that one of the keys in Cecil’s article was the fact that the head landed upside down. Gravity in that case might provide enough blood pressure to allow a few seconds of consciousness. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/12 "2005-12-19T17:00:54Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Be that as it may, there is still a considerable body of antecdotal evidence . What is this considerable body of anecdotal evidence??? Apart from the legends about experiments supposedly done in France with beheaded people, I’ve never heard any. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/13 "2005-12-19T17:16:19Z")
This was a lively topic of debate among scientists during the French Revolution, and Robespierre gave them much material to work with during the Reign of Terror. They waited avidly by the guillotine and then listened to see if the heads said anything or responded to stimuli after decapitation. They had, needless to say, no success. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/14 "2005-12-19T17:18:36Z")
Just to add that the scientists in my previous post watched for lip movements rather than listening. Tricky to speak without lungs! ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/15 "2005-12-19T17:38:32Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > This was a lively topic of debate among scientists during the French Revolution, and Robespierre gave them much material to work with during the Reign of Terror. They waited avidly by the guillotine and then listened to see if the heads said anything or responded to stimuli after decapitation. They had, needless to say, no success. They might have bebenfitted from an EEG device. And electricity. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/16 "2005-12-19T17:44:43Z")
[Here’s Cecil’s column on the subject.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_262.html) Attempts to illicit a response from beheaded people have yielded mixed results. There are reports of severed heads reacting after being slapped, or after the person’s name was called. Other people didn’t react at all. It seems like this is something that might or might not happen. I suspect that the exact details of the decapitation method would make the difference. A very quick, sharp cut might allow the head to remain conscious, while a more blunt impact would probably knock the person out in the process. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/17 "2005-12-19T17:47:16Z")
And here’s a nice quote from [this site](http://asylumeclectica.com/morbid/archives/morb898.htm) : “At the time the guillotine was invented, scientists were fascinated by whether any of the executed continued to feel after their heads were removed. When Charlotte Corday, who killed revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat, was executed, the executioner’s assistant Francois le Gros picked up her head by the hair and slapped her cheek. Several eyewitnesses saw not one but both cheeks flush red, as though in anger. And so for the next 200 years French doctors devoted a lot of time and effort to researching whether the head lived on after it was cut off. This involved such scientific endeavors as shouting loudly in the ears of decapitated heads and watching to see if there was any flicker of recognition on their features, and pumping blood from a living dog through a three hour old head and watching its eyelids flicker.” ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/18 "2005-12-19T18:34:28Z")
Why not take a penlight to the eyes after a beheading and look for dilation? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/19 "2005-12-19T19:18:34Z")
I think the “blushing when slapped” story can be dismissed outright. Seriously, how can you blush without a heart to pump blood to your cheeks, not to mention the massive “open drain” at the base of the neck? ---
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271/20 "2005-12-19T22:03:16Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > I think the “blushing when slapped” story can be dismissed outright. Seriously, how can you blush without a heart to pump blood to your cheeks, not to mention the massive “open drain” at the base of the neck? Perhaps the blood doesn’t drain as fast out of the capillaries in the cheeks and the capillaries can still dialate causing the flushed appearance?? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-a-decapitated-head-live/336271.md?page=2)