# Is it possible to keep a human head alive with no body attached? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777 "2015-02-27T17:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/1 "2015-02-27T17:03:41Z")
Humans can survive with a Cardiopulmonary bypass machine with no actual heart inside their bodies. Dialysis can keep the heart clean, and parental feeding can provide the body with necessary nutrients. So… would it be possible to keep a person with no limbs, torso and chest alive? Basically… a head with a neck? Could this person actually survive for more than a few hours? ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/2 "2015-02-27T17:12:18Z")
Sure. I saw a documentary on it: [The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052646/) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/3 "2015-02-27T17:33:51Z")
They have done so with a monkey and a dog, but only for a few days. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/4 "2015-02-27T18:17:22Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@Spiff](#): > > Sure. I saw a documentary on it: > > [The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052646/) Just a friendly reminder, in General Questions please hold off on answers like this until the question has been factually addressed. Thanks. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/5 "2015-02-27T18:23:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > They have done so with a monkey and a dog, but only for a few days. Most only live for a few days, but one dog did live for about a month. In the end it’s usually immune system rejection that does them in. There’s a wikipedia page that has some details of this and other experiments here: e class="onebox wikipedia" data-onebox-src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head\_transplant"\> [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_transplant) ### [Head transplant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_transplant) A head transplant or full body transplant is an experimental surgical operation involving the grafting of one organism's head onto the body of another. In many experiments, the recipient's head has not been removed, but in others it has been. Experimentation in animals began in the early 1900s. As of 2024[update], no lasting successes have been achieved. There are three main technical challenges. As with any organ transplant, managing the immune response to avoid transplant rejection is necess... ---
**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:** [February 27, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/6 "2015-02-27T18:25:55Z")
The scientist who did the dog experiment was Sergei Brukhonenko, and you can see extremely disturbing video of it here. _(I removed the link)_ The head reacts to stimuli, but I don’t know how “alive” it is, exactly. There’s also video of a second insane experiment, attaching a second head to a living dog. You know what, I’ve thought better of linking to the video, because what follows it, and the other “suggested videos”, are just too messed up. Search for the guy’s name if you want to see them. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/7 "2015-02-27T18:36:45Z")
See previous threads on this topic: > **[How Long Could We Keep A Human Head Alive?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=670547)** > > Title says it all I think…but just in case: Assuming that you had unlimited wealth, and you could decide exactly when the head was going to come off the living person, how long could current medical science keep it alive? What things would we need?... > **[Could a severed human head be kept alive?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=629348)** > > Dear Fans: Say I had a setup that was like a external Jarvick-7 (first generation heart-pump)linked to a dyalisis blood filter, piped into an areated reservour of blood, (like an aquarium fulla blood with an areator), and all conditions were... > **[Could medical science keep a decapitated head alive?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=429240)** > > Inspired by the thread on extreme surgical procedures: I wonder, could a decapitated head be kept alive and functioning by connecting it to medical equipment? I’m thinking of connecting the veins and arteries to an external pump, oxygenating the... > **[could a severed head theoretically be reattached?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716151)** > > I mean a human head. And have the person live on? Could you switch heads? Brains? Why would this be so much different from putting together an arm or a leg? > **[Not for the squeamish: decapitated head awareness?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=281586)** > > I’ve been reading this book, Stiff (which is quite good, really) and it had a chapter about decapitated heads, focusing mostly on the history of the guillotine, and the research that French doctors did to determine whether or not those heads actually... ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/8 "2015-02-27T18:50:28Z")
[This guy apparently thinks it’s two years away.](http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/25/first-full-body-transplant-two-years-away-surgeon-claim) I’m not going to bet on it, myself. (Saw the article yesterday in my Facebook feed.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/9 "2015-02-27T18:51:32Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Most only live for a few days, but one dog did live for about a month. In the end it’s usually immune system rejection that does them in. > > There’s a wikipedia page that has some details of this and other experiments here: > > [Head transplant - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_transplant) Good points and link. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/10 "2015-02-27T18:52:37Z")
Apparently it [won’t be necessary](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290127.php). Provided you have a live-but-headless body handy. ETA: ninja’d by **puly**. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/11 "2015-02-27T19:41:57Z")
Wasn’t there a chicken that lived for years without a head? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/12 "2015-02-27T19:45:39Z")
[Kind of](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/13 "2015-02-27T20:19:29Z")
Everybody in the thread seems to be talking about head (or full body) transplants (except the guy who got modded for bringing up Jan in the Pan before a serious answer to the OP had been submitted). But the way I read the OP, a Jan in the Pan scenario is exactly what he’s asking about. Correction: some of **Qadgop** ’s links seem to cover the actual question. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-keep-a-human-head-alive-with-no-body-attached/713777/14 "2015-02-27T21:15:24Z")
> [@Artemis\_Tardis](#): > > Humans can survive with a Cardiopulmonary bypass machine with no actual heart inside their bodies. Dialysis can keep the heart clean, and parental feeding can provide the body with necessary nutrients. So… would it be possible to keep a person with no limbs, torso and chest alive? Basically… a head with a neck? Could this person actually survive for more than a few hours? Does not sound like good living at all:mad::mad::mad::mad: but I think in 30 years cyborgs will be approaching reality. Saying in 30 years from now you going to die. They could transplant your head to cyborg humanoid or a robotic device like this [http://s3.amazonaws.com/digitaltrends-uploads-prod/2014/08/krang-tmnt1.jpg](http://s3.amazonaws.com/digitaltrends-uploads-prod/2014/08/krang-tmnt1.jpg) The robotic device like this [http://s3.amazonaws.com/digitaltrends-uploads-prod/2014/08/krang-tmnt1.jpg](http://s3.amazonaws.com/digitaltrends-uploads-prod/2014/08/krang-tmnt1.jpg) would be less complex to build than humanoid robotic hooking up to you. I can see in 30 to 40 years from now some thing like this.