# Ok, this cant be real right? Sergei S. Bryukhonenko, dog head experiment) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 1, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205 "2009-10-01T04:04:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![satoridt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@satoridt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satoridt)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/1 "2009-10-01T04:04:14Z")
it was just Soviet Propaganda or something right? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rSrIkUXwsNk/hqdefault.jpg "Russian Dog Experiment - Living without a body!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSrIkUXwsNk) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/2 "2009-10-01T04:11:41Z")
If it’s real, there really ought to be other camera angles. It’d be a lot more convincing if we could see it from the side. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/3 "2009-10-01T04:27:32Z")
Relevant [Damn Interesting article](http://www.damninteresting.com/sergei%E2%80%99s-litter). Complete with NY Times and TIME Magazine cites. Seems legit. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2009, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/4 "2009-10-01T09:10:06Z")
Now there’s a guy who really can say, “I heart my dog head.” ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/5 "2009-10-01T14:12:14Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Relevant [Damn Interesting article](http://www.damninteresting.com/sergei%E2%80%99s-litter). Complete with NY Times and TIME Magazine cites. Seems legit. That’s really disturbing. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/6 "2009-10-01T14:17:33Z")
I have an old Soviet propaganda book called _Life In the 21st Century_ that contains a picture of a dog with another dog’s head surgically attached to it that I meant to ask about before. ETA: I see from Kobal2’s link that it was the work of Vladimir Demikhov . ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/7 "2009-10-01T14:46:11Z")
The bounds of science (and scientific experiment) become limitless when the ends justify the means. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn anythign about u.s.s.r. medical experiments. It’s not like they had animal rights protesters. Heck, there were “medical experiments” in Germany during WWII and earlier that involved attaching other peoples arms to people and seeing how long they could keep a head and shoulders alive and attaching the same persons arms to the opposite shoulders. People have done some sick and wrong stuff in the name of “science” ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/8 "2009-10-01T20:10:37Z")
Disturbing. One of the comments about how it’s probably fake says that "_Also, it’s not oxygen deprivation that kills your brain, it’s the reintroduction of oxygen that kills it. So you could have a brain that could well be alive after 5 minutes, but once you introduce oxygen again, you’re effectively killing it."_ Sounds interesting- any idea where he got that from? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/9 "2009-10-01T20:20:43Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Disturbing. > > One of the comments about how it’s probably fake says that "_Also, it’s not oxygen deprivation that kills your brain, it’s the reintroduction of oxygen that kills it. So you could have a brain that could well be alive after 5 minutes, but once you introduce oxygen again, you’re effectively killing it."_ Sounds interesting- any idea where he got that from? The latest research on heart attacks has shown this to be true. I can’t seem to come up with a cite, but Newsweek ran a big article about it. What it shows is that a rapid reintroduction of oxygen triggers self-destruct mechanisms in the cells. Normally, the self-destruct is good - it means that damaged cells shut down rather than causing bigger problems - but when everything decides its damaged all at once, you get a dead person. Doctors are working on techniques where body temp and oxygen are increased to normal levels more slowly and the early results suggest they might improve survivability by 20% or something. (Which, admittedly, still means most people with heart attacks are toast). ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/10 "2009-10-01T21:43:05Z")
And, this was a Major Plot Point of the recent _X-Files_ movie. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/11 "2009-10-01T21:55:09Z")
> [@pan1](#): > > Heck, there were “medical experiments” in Germany during WWII and earlier that involved attaching other peoples arms to people and seeing how long they could keep a head and shoulders alive and attaching the same persons arms to the opposite shoulders. They did more and worse, but I don’t think I would say it was “in the name of science.” Some of it was intended to help the German military and I think some of it yielded research (about the effects of extreme pressure on the human body) that aided space exploration, but mostly it wasn’t science - it was sick people committing torture with medical instruments. I read **Kobal2** ’s article - by I’m guessing by “seems legit,” he means ‘the experiments happened.’ The claimed results should inspire skepticism, which is the same conclusion the article makes. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/12 "2009-10-01T22:00:24Z")
Real or not, it hurts me to watch that video. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/13 "2009-10-01T22:35:12Z")
If you watch the [complete video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEcUTMpyRLY&NR=1), there’s an introduction from [JBS Haldane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._S._Haldane). Admittedly, he was a very enthusiastic communist, but he was also a very prominent scientist who would have had a lot to lose by being involved in fakery. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/14 "2009-10-03T20:03:39Z")
I think my soul just vomited. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/15 "2009-10-03T21:27:15Z")
> [@flyboy](#): > > I think my soul just vomited. I’m with you on that one. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/16 "2009-10-03T21:52:03Z")
The video has been doctored in at least one way. The label of the citric acid bottle is not real - it has been superimposed - it doesn’t jiggle around in sync with the film and just before the shot changes, it disappears, revealing a light label with dark writing on it. I’m assuming this is just a way of translating the thing though ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/17 "2009-10-03T22:13:08Z")
> [@flyboy](#): > > I think my soul just vomited. > [@Serenata67](#): > > I’m with you on that one. Painful to watch, for sure, but as the linked article points out: > [@](#): > > Bryukhonenko’s autojector paved the way for our modern artificial life-support machines, and White’s experiments in organ transplants helped us better understand the body’s physiological ability to adapt. Together with the work of other medical pioneers, this work ultimately led to the creation and continued success of surgeries we take for granted today. Without these men, it’s only a guess as to when life support machines or heart transplants would have become a possibility. One must wonder what medical breakthroughs are looming just over the horizon, and which ones are worth the lives lost to discover them. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/18 "2009-10-03T23:17:38Z")
Head transplants and keeping disembodied heads/brains alive was for some reason a hot topic of research in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This inspired fiction ranging from C.S. Lewis’s **That Hideous Strength** to **They Saved Hitler’s Brain**. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/19 "2009-10-04T00:58:56Z")
Similar stuff occured in the U.S., too. For example, Dr. Robert White’s [monkey head transplant](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb3Zi0DenaE) experiments (although, as the doctor notes, the proper term should be “body transplant”). Dr. White also successfully removed the brain of a dog, grafting it onto the neck of another dog as a blood supply, and kept it alive and not brain-dead for some hours, once. “That would have worked if you hadn’t stopped me.”—Dr. Egon Spengler ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205/20 "2009-10-04T01:38:26Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Relevant [Damn Interesting article](http://www.damninteresting.com/sergei%E2%80%99s-litter). Complete with NY Times and TIME Magazine cites. Seems legit. The article, though saying Bryukhoneko’s work is legit, doesn’t give much credence to the film. It confirms that all the other shots in the movie were of the easy-to-fake variety, and points out some claims of the narrators that were demonstrably lies. What I’m seeing is they’re doing the whole make-a-person-look-like-he’s-got-half-a-body hollywood trick. Just take a look at the very last shot. How is the dog shaking its head if it doesn’t have a neck?! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-this-cant-be-real-right-sergei-s-bryukhonenko-dog-head-experiment/512205.md?page=2)