severed head kept alive

[Comandante]

Apprently these experiments were indeed carried out in USSR in the 40's, and there are some journal articles in regards to those, however, I'm not sure if the real experiment is what's shown in this video, check it: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=rSrIkUXwsNk

 

If anyone has other videos or articles about similar experiments please post here.

 

Also, a question: would similar experimentation with regular lab mice for instance be illegal these days?

[iNow]

Yes. Similiar experimentation would be considered inhumane and unethical.

 

Unless they could prove that the potential benefits of conducting the research FAR outweighed the costs (like curing every form of cancer and ending world hunger, or something), and those benefits were likely (not just pie in the sky... much more than a small chance), then it would be comletely illegal and unacceptable.

 

Bear in mind, though... Laws are region specific. I'm sure there are a lot of areas on the planet where this could happen and there would be no issue with the authorities.

[insane_alien]

i imagine PETA would freak if you tried that nowadays IMM herself would probably turn up on your doorstep to try that experiment on you.

 

but, ethical issues aside, it is an interesting experiment, and if done today it would probably be a bit more than a head attached to a heart/lung machine. we could probably keep it alive longer by providing nutrients, artifical kidney functions and so on. possibly even hooking the nerves up to artificial appendages.

 

it would be interesting to see if we could do this with a human head as well as then we could get some meaningful feedback from the patient, although this would be even more illegal and so on.

 

damn ethics, they get in the way of the really cool stuff.

[Radical Edward]

that's just grim.

[bored_teen]

that's just grim.

 

do you think da Vinci's experiments on corpses during the Renaissance was considered grim?

[Comandante]

Yes. Similiar experimentation would be considered inhumane and unethical.

 

Pity! I was just considering of doing it! But then again would those 'living' bodiless mice haunt me overnight? I think I'll stick to observation for now!

 

It appears that the mentioned work might be that of Dr Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov, organ transplant pioneer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Demikhov). Fascinating work he's done, I'm particularly interested in the brain and head transplant attempts that he did, will do some more research about it when I get time, damn exams!

 

There also appears to be some research done on the subject in the US (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_transplant) but Dr Demikhov's was apparently the first to utilize full cerebral functions. What's paritcularly interesting are these notes he made for Experiment 2, Feb 24,26 1954:

 

"09:00 The donor’s head eagerly drank water or milk, and tugged as if trying to separate itself from the recipient’s body.

 

22:30 When the recipient was put to bed, the transplanted head bit the finger of a member of the staff until it bled.

 

February 26, 18:00. The donor’s head bit the recipient behind the ear, so that the latter yelped and shook its head." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_transplant)