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Heads: Transplants, Revivification & Maintenance Isolated From A Body

If the story is real, since it's happening in Russia, I sadly think that stock of bodies may not be an issue.

Did anyone see Reggie Yate's scary "Right Wing and Proud" documentary last night on BBC3? Scary stuff.

But I do take your point @Shady .....there's a massive difference between a random corpse, and a carefully-chosen type-matched bod. This isn't a Frankensteinean lash-up, it purports to being a real medical procedure. However...over 100 doctors for the operation? Hardly. And then maybe the story starts to fall apart, like a rotting zombie.
 
We haven't even worked out how to repair central nervous tissue effectively yet so how will this work? We can't help paraplegics regain mobility but we can stitch a head on another body? See the big problem here?! (and that's only one I can think of!)
 
^ Yeah. This. ^
 
I saw this news article too and it seems genuine. I also saw a very disturbing documentary many years ago with footage of the transplanted monkey head and a dog head being kept alive without a body.....
I think this might be it.
 
[I thought this video would've already been posted, but it seems not to have been (or I couldn't find it). Also, feel free to move to a more appropriate section. I should also warn the squeamish it depicts so very messed up experiments on dogs.]

I recently came across this video again, and did a little research into its origins, as it seems many consider it a fake. (I'm still not 100% sold, but leaning towards 'legit').


It seems to have come from this 1940 film (Experiments in the Revival of Organisms)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496948/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiments_in_the_Revival_of_Organisms

It is (seemingly) introduced by prominent biologist (and a bit of a polymath) JBS Haldane, and depicts the (in)famous experiments of russian surgeon S.S. Bryukhonenko; basically transplanting (or 'grafting') the head/upper body of one dog onto the body of another (resulting in a truly freaky cerberus-looking creature), and artificially keeping a severed dog's head alive and conscious.

From what I can tell, these experiments are largely accepted as real and 'successful' (though short-lived, due to tissue rejection and other problems). But I wonder if this video is an straightforward filming of the experiments, or if some parts might be a 're-enactment' (for educational/illustrative purposes). The 'head on the table' scenes, in particular, look to me like they might have been faked, with a dog sticking its head through a hole in the table; we never see the severed side or apparatus, and (imho) the head's movements seem very dramatic for having no leverage or points of attachment.

I've seen online opinions from '100% real', to '1940 re-enactment' to 'modern fake', and various combinations thereof. What do other people think? Anyone know of any credible 'expert' opinion, one way or the other?
 
The Russians did some pretty fucked up things, which is why the Russian Sleep Deprivation experiment (made infamous by Creepy Pasta) just may have some basis in fact.
 
Also featured in the second X-Files movie, which was based around attempts to perform a human head transplant. References to the Russian experiments and IIRC the villain's lair was guarded by two headed dogs.
 
If God does not exist, then everything is permitted
 
I'm sure I've seen some footage from about 50-60 years ago when they did a head transplant on a monkey and the monkey bit the scientist.
It may be that I am getting confused and the dog bit the scientist in the above film but I didn't want to watch it to find out. Yuk.
 
I came across these experiments in a book on the possibility of alien cloning experiments. I watched those videos and found them extremely upsetting.
 
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This looks promising, I knew you'd like a heads up.

The world’s first human head transplants may be just a decade away, a former NHS neurosurgeon has said, after working out how to achieve the groundbreaking operation.

Bruce Mathew, a former Clinical Lead for Neurosurgery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, is now an expert in hyperbaric medicine, helping divers to recover from the bends. But while working on a science fiction novel with the futurist author Michal J Lee, he realised there was a plausible way to move the consciousness of one person to another body, and that recent advancements in robotics, stem cell transplants, and nerve surgery now make the prospect achievable within the next decade.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science...d-transplant-may-just-decade-away-former-nhs/
 
This is not the only thread on the subject of head transplants. I can remember posting on one and quoting a grisly Daily Mirror report on Russian research from the early 1970s.
 
MrSnowman said:
... THIS is a selection of the same videos in various formats, all of which purport to show a dog's head being revived after removal from the body. I believe that they (not the Soviets, merely the ubiquitous 'they') have also successfully carried out the same procedure with monkeys of some kind as well.
Click to expand...

As a precaution to ensure future reference, here's the URL linked above:
http://movies02.archive.org/2/movies/Experime1940/

MrSnowman said:
... Perhaps those in the know can shed a bit more light on the subject. ...
Click to expand...

This blog article:

http://www.strangemag.com/recentadditions/dogheads.html

... provides the background to the video (etc.) files linked above. It specifically mentions learning about the Soviet film and research as a result of 2006 online postings made by a radio station manager at:

https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/02/a_brief_history.html
 
Brain revival of 32 dead pigs by Yale scientist ..

'The researchers did not hail from House Greyjoy — "What is dead may never die" — but came largely from the Yale School of Medicine. They connected 32 pig brains to a system called BrainEx. BrainEx is an artificial perfusion system — that is, a system that takes over the functions normally regulated by the organ. The pigs had been killed four hours earlier at a U.S. Department of Agriculture slaughterhouse; their brains completely removed from the skulls.

BrainEx pumped an experiment solution into the brain that essentially mimic blood flow. It brought oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, giving brain cells the resources to begin many normal functions. The cells began consuming and metabolizing sugars. The brains' immune systems kicked in. Neuron samples could carry an electrical signal. Some brain cells even responded to drugs.'

https://bigthink.com/surprising-sci...9wlmWQLC8-_4egUQJ9_PdGaz3u1LkbN2PpspuQiQKT05A
 
Swifty said:
Brain revival of 32 dead pigs by Yale scientist ..

'The researchers did not hail from House Greyjoy — "What is dead may never die" — but came largely from the Yale School of Medicine. They connected 32 pig brains to a system called BrainEx. BrainEx is an artificial perfusion system — that is, a system that takes over the functions normally regulated by the organ. The pigs had been killed four hours earlier at a U.S. Department of Agriculture slaughterhouse; their brains completely removed from the skulls.

BrainEx pumped an experiment solution into the brain that essentially mimic blood flow. It brought oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, giving brain cells the resources to begin many normal functions. The cells began consuming and metabolizing sugars. The brains' immune systems kicked in. Neuron samples could carry an electrical signal. Some brain cells even responded to drugs.'

https://bigthink.com/surprising-sci...9wlmWQLC8-_4egUQJ9_PdGaz3u1LkbN2PpspuQiQKT05A
Click to expand...

I find that so creepy. :eek:
It begs the question - if a brain were to be removed from its body and reanimated, then how would it experience reality? I guess that's all becoming a bit brain in the vat, but would it still be able to think without any sense of perception or stimulation, other than that which was keeping it 'alive'?

Reminds me of this 'Tales of the Unexpected' episode:
 
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It just so happens that I recently watched the film PROFESSOR DOWELL'S WILL (Russia, 1984) which concerns this very thread topic.

Based on Alexander Belyaev's novel `Professor Dowell's Head` (1925) it is a medical thriller-cum-crime-cum science fiction story. A genius scientist, suspected by many to have been murdered, is actualy still alive - existing as a disembodied head kept alive by colleagues who are working on fiurther medical marvels together.

It is earnest but fast paced and set in an exotic sun-drenched locale. It might surprise you.

Here it all is, with English subtitles:

 
After reading and watching the videos on this thread, I still don't understand why someone would do a head transplant. In one of the videos (I don't remember which and don't really want to go back to figure out which) the researcher, possibly White, states thatr the person having the full body transplant still would not be able to control the body and would a need way of reviving the spinal cord function to do so. If this revival of the spinal cord function would make the transplant fully successful and was possible, then why would you not just repair the person's spinal cord damage?

Personally, I would not want to be attached to another body. And this is also my nightmare about face transplants. What option do you have if your body is rejected? People with heart, lung etc transplants face this possiblity everyday. Each type of transplant has its own longevity timeline. You may or may not be prolonging your life. That is my opinion and I am not questioning anyone's decisions if s/he has had or is considering any type of transplant.

I hope that research will find ways of repairing organs and/or growing or manufacturing organs for transplants and that this line of research would lessen the question of rejection as well as the wait that someone has to go through to find a donor.
 
I ran across this video on YouTube, a video claiming to be:

In 1940s, Russian scientists kept a dog’s head alive for a few hours. (Graphic)​

Click to expand...
Now, this claim is made in the discussion of the video:
Note: this is a reenactment of the experiment (yes, it did actually happen) The dog in this video was perfectly fine (though probably drugged a bit) and it’s neck was just sticking through the table. You can notice his head and neck move which if he had no fully intact muscles or joints besides his head and a small bit of his neck, he wouldn’t have the ability to do that. As an example, put your forearm on the table and lift it up. Now, if you had no elbow, you wouldn’t be able to do that. Same principle.
Click to expand...
I don't know that this person is right. Could it be footage from that accursed experiment? Or if it is faked, what was the purpose this faked version was made? I'm going to link it here, but I will hide it in the "Quotes" so if you don't want to see it you don't have to. I don't think it is graphic, so no gore or anything like that.
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MrRING said:
I ran across this video on YouTube, a video claiming to be:

Now, this claim is made in the discussion of the video:

I don't know that this person is right. Could it be footage from that accursed experiment? Or if it is faked, what was the purpose this faked version was made? I'm going to link it here, but I will hide it in the "Quotes" so if you don't want to see it you don't have to. I don't think it is graphic, so no gore or anything like that.
Click to expand...
I remember seeing that back in 2005 and on some Sky channel and it freaked me out as I just watched as I just watched 'The Day After Tomorrow'.
Side story so I'm sorry for moving from the subject whats freaked me out more about this thread was I was going to give the exact date I saw it due to the events on the weekend but as it was Sunday 12th of June 2005 because the night before on the Saturday I went with a friend to Newcastle University (UK) to watch the brilliant Dead 60's band with support from a little known band at the time The Kooks after having a great Chinese and then my friend paid for drinks at a Lap Dancing club where I met a beautiful young women who was dancing at the club from Edinburgh called 'Angel' and after a couple dances she would just sit with me and talk while I watched as well K-1 ( Kickboxing from Japan) and then the UFC which I was into both.
But going back to the dog clip which has freaked me out ever since then and i started to believe I made it up on that day I watched another favourite sport which I recorded that Sunday morning which is Rugby League from Australia and the game I have checked would of been St.George v North Queensland Cowboys.

So thank you for posting that freaky clip as I thought I was going mad and had the Mandela Effect.
 
There are claims that the separated heads of guillotine victims retained consciousness briefly so it does seem possible that a head supplied with oxygenated blood could survive for a short time.
 
So a question: has anybody been able to acertain what is the true origin of the weird living dog head footage that I linked above?
 
Thanks for that link! It is apparently unknown if the dog head is the truly severed one or just faked with a live dog. The current Wikipedia linked above says the following:
Some commentators have questioned the film's authenticity, given that none of the more dubious experiments are shown in any full-frame shots. According to some scientists who claim to have seen the experiments in the film, the severed dog head only survived for a few minutes when attached to the artificial heart, as opposed to the hours claimed in the film.
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