# The Human Brain vs. Jello? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2003, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-brain-vs-jello/221748 "2003-12-30T12:37:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drmark2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@drmark2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drmark2000)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-brain-vs-jello/221748/1 "2003-12-30T12:37:05Z")
I have become aware of a study done (I’m not sure when) in which electroencephalograph (EEG) sensors were placed on a lump of Jello, and produced readings identical to those of a human brain. I think this was to demonstrate that EEG readings are practically useless as a clinical tool. I would like to find out more about this study, and would appreciate any references or links to lead me to further information. I am interested because I do use the EEG clinically, and have been confronted with this study “as if” it invalidates the instrumentation we use. Thanks! ---
**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 30, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-brain-vs-jello/221748/2 "2003-12-30T12:47:06Z")
This seems highly unlikely - what mechanism could exist in a blob of gelatin that would produce complex electrical pulses? Aren’t there cases where the EEg is used in conjunction with other methods to confirm diagnosis of a brain condition such as epilepsy - wouldn’t it be obvious if the readings bore no relation to the patient’s condition? Sounds like a student hoax to me. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-brain-vs-jello/221748/3 "2003-12-30T13:03:54Z")
[The Jello Museum](http://www.jellomuseum.com/) > [@](#): > > March 17, 1993, technicians at St. Jerome hospital in Batavia test a bowl of lime Jell-O with an EEG machine and confirm the earlier testing by Dr. Adrian Upton that a bowl of wiggly Jell-O has brain waves identical to those of adult men and women. ---
**Author:** ![drmark2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@drmark2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drmark2000)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-brain-vs-jello/221748/4 "2003-12-30T13:13:14Z")
My scant understanding of this study is that the readings obtained were similar to those of a “normal” human brain. I believe that this was mainly to illustrate the bane of the issue of “artifact” in EEG readings. This is extraneous (or ambient) electrical activity that interferes with accurate reading of actual electrical activity in the brain. In other words, EEG readings consist predominantly of artifact, and this contaminates any valid clinical information that might be obtained. Of course, EEG readings have been used successfully (and validly) to determine the existence of a seizure disorder, as well as schizophrenia, among other psychological disorders. We use the EEG still more subtly, to determine the causes of attentional problems, depression, anxiety, and the results of brain injury. I just want to get a reference to this study so I can analyze it for myself. If it produces useful information about artifact, great. If it’s BS, then also great, as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-human-brain-vs-jello/221748/5 "2003-12-30T16:11:54Z")
[http://www.motherearthnews.com/menarch/archive/issues/039/039-018-01.htm](http://www.motherearthnews.com/menarch/archive/issues/039/039-018-01.htm) > [@](#): > > Dr. Adrian Upton, professor of neurology at MacMasters University in Hamilton, Ontario, recently rigged a brain wave machine, artificial respirators, and intravenous feeding equipment to a bowl of lime jello about the size of a human brain, and—gasp!—recorded readings typical of those emitted by a living person. In fact, the good doctor noted, the results of the electronic analysis would not have qualified the dessert as sufficiently “dead” to have the fife-sustaining plugs pulled under existing legal guidelines! I’m guessing that the “waves” were artifacts of the life-support equipment, not of the shimmying dessert itself.