30-Year-Old Man Volunteers For The First Human Head Transplant In The World

a reply to: Tjoran
So he's volunteered to get a new head lol?

Don't think I'd want someone else's head!
I have brain damage , but I'll keep it. I'm reasonably attractive and not interested in switching my face and half decent hair.

It's really bizzare
. Nowadays these face transplants are becoming more common as well. Good for somebody who's been mauled or burned, where it fixes issues like eating,seeing, breathing and appearance etc.

a reply to: violet

No, his head is getting a new body, Him getting a new head doesn't make any sense . The body itself comes from a recently dead person.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

What do I think?

Proof that Stupid never takes a vacation!

Sounds to me like the volonteer is already brain dead........so's...........how will anyone know if the procedure was a success or not?

a reply to: DISRAELI

Presumably he would remember the account passwords etc. of the head donor rather than the body donor, so it would be more practical to allow that to determine his identity.

But the body would have the fingerprints, and the signature...pure muscle memory. This could all get really messy, really quickly.

a reply to: surfer_soul

They have indeed already done it with animal's and potentially also with a human but we will not hear about it yet if they have, especially if the patient did not last long.
They have already done it with a dog about a decade or so ago and also taken a dog's head off and then re-attached it.
Also a Monkey.
www.thesun.co.uk...
Here is the Doctor Frankenstein that want's to do more with human's.
qz.com...
The next stage will be to make brain transplant's but the cranium is very particular to the brain it hold's since they grow together so a medium of shaped cartilage will likely be used to replace or re-shape the donor body's old cranial cavity while stem cell's will be used to speed neural and nervous connection's with the host spine and other structure's such as the optic nerve's.
A very unethical procedure if you think about it which open's a can of worm's on a world of human exploitation and illegal medical procedure's just like the black market in human organ's in India, South America and other places today with the exception that these would be wanting PREMIUM body's of most likely first world Caucasian and Chinese donor's since the elite whom would pay for this type of procedure and would want it are mainly from those background's or else want to be from them.

In honor of Gene Wilder.
Dr. Frankenstein: "Who's brain did you say this was?"
Igor:"Abby someone"
Dr. Frankenstein:" Abby someone?"
Igor: "Yes, Abby hmmmm, normal."

a reply to: Jonjonj

True there has been some argument about were memory is stored and the heart after the brain and spine is the most complex nerve nexus in the body, in fact there are numerous account's of heart donor's having strange personality alteration's which match there donor's life's and personality's.
www.namahjournal.com...
Of course this is fairly rare among donor's but open's up another question, Whose soul will occupy the body after this operation.

The spinal muscular atrophies (SMAs), are characterized by degeneration of nerve cells (motor nuclei) within the lowest region of the brain (lower brainstem) and certain motor neurons in the spinal cord (anterior horn cells) leading to muscle weakness of the truncal, and extremity muscles initially, followed by chewing, swallowing and breathing difficulties. Motor neurons are nerve cells that transmit nerve impulses from the spinal cord or brain (central nervous system) to muscle or glandular tissue.

Okay, I had to look up this donor's rare disease. My question is that if his initial problem stems from the lower part of his brain, would they not have to remove that as well? I mean...would he not have the same issue develop in his new body else wise? If they do remove that lower portion won't he be paralyzed?

As you can see...I am having difficulty in understanding how this is possible with his stated disease? I could see someone paralyzed from a spinal injury possibly being a candidate but...well it seems like this gentlemen will not be helped in such a procedure, as given.

originally posted by: Jonjonj
But the body would have the fingerprints, and the signature...pure muscle memory. This could all get really messy, really quickly.

So the banks ask the test question; "When is your wife's birthday?"
And NEITHER of them remembers.

a reply to: LABTECH767

You know it, they grow it.

Whatever next? Every leave voter being bumped off until the remain campaign can guarantee a yes vote.

Uh oh!!

originally posted by: DISRAELI

originally posted by: Jonjonj
But the body would have the fingerprints, and the signature...pure muscle memory. This could all get really messy, really quickly.

So the banks ask the test question; "When is your wife's birthday?"
And NEITHER of them remembers.

And...the bank wins!!! It was ever thus.

a reply to: CynConcepts

That was the first thing I thought of. Motor neurone related disease, nervous system problems, right?

Hence the who gets what argument we have been having lol.

Someone, somewhere, has not thought this through, and it is probably me, but anyway.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

Man with tiny brain shocks doctors - New Scientist

Perhaps the 'person' is not in the brain at all?

originally posted by: chr0naut
a reply to: iTruthSeeker

Man with tiny brain shocks doctors - New Scientist

Perhaps the 'person' is not in the brain at all?

Some synapses are misfiring there!

That link ain't working.

a reply to: CynConcepts

Good point, how can it help him if his decease is for the most part in his brain?

This thread gets stranger and stranger!

a reply to: LABTECH767

True there has been some argument about were memory is stored and the heart after the brain and spine is the most complex nerve nexus in the body, in fact there are numerous account's of heart donor's having strange personality alteration's which match there donor's life's and personality's.

This worries me, because the pudendal/anus nerve bundle is also quite big...



This may explain why I meet so many dickheads and assholes though.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

Wow. That's really gruesome to imagine. I cannot quite articulate the way I am feeling about this right now. Frankly, I find it horrifying.

However, I'm having trouble believing this is not an elaborate joke, for a couple reasons...

If the problem is neurological in nature, then it is generated in the brain. I fail to see how cutting off this man's head and putting it onto a donor body could be a solution for fixing his brain. His brain is the problem in the first place. I'd have to see some hard science on this, but I don't have time atm to research it. I'm not familiar with his disease process.

Also, no one has been successful in reattaching or grafting a human spinal cord, so how in the hell are they going to attach his head to another body and think it could possibly function? Or a better question, if they are in fact able to do this, why the hell have they not repaired the spinal cords of millions of spinal cord injury patients?

Why bother with a transplant if you've got that kind of medical technology? If you can successfully fuse a human spinal cord and allow that person to function normally, then you can damn sure reverse a neurological condition that directly affects the brain and spinal cord.

It just makes no sense medically or practically...like I said, I'll have to look up the actual data to understand how this could even be possible given the current limitations to spinal cord injury treatment. It sounds ridiculous to me.

As for the folks who ask why this man would be crazy enough to volunteer, they'd have to have a complete comprehension of his current quality of life. It is poor. And he is still a young man.

To get even a glimpse of what it would be like to be unable to control your body or even paralyzed, try having someone "mummy" wrap you in a sheet, tight enough to inhibit free movement, then lie on your bed like that. Just lie, completely motionless, for at least ten minutes. Eventually, your nose will itch, or something will be uncomfortable, and you will try to reach for it.

But you'll be unable to, because your movement is inhibited. See how long you are able to stand it without unwrapping yourself and freeing your arms. Then...imagine that you can't free them at all. Ever.

Try to imagine a lifetime of that. You won't even come close. And you're trapped like that, until the day you die. Perhaps then, it will be easier to imagine why such an individual would be willing to give it a try. He has nothing to lose. His disease will kill him anyway, and it'll kill him slowly. So he's taking the path not traveled, on his own terms.

originally posted by: Jonjonj

originally posted by: chr0naut
a reply to: iTruthSeeker

Man with tiny brain shocks doctors - New Scientist

Perhaps the 'person' is not in the brain at all?

Some synapses are misfiring there!

That link ain't working.

Fixed now, sorry.

I don't believe this attempt will succeed but eventually it will.Then wouldn't this be a crude form of immortality?And within the 50 years the replacement may last,science will find a way to"Grow"bodies and and replace memories.Science fiction to science fact.
We may want to start discussing the implications and ethics regarding such world changing developments such as these.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

So what would happen if you put an old man's head on a 25 year old's body?

Could this be used in weird ways like ... say you have cancer in your colon, lungs, testicles AND prostate ... could you just get a new body if a donor died?