Isolated brain

In the 1920s, a successful experiment in isolating the brain was conducted by the Soviet scientist S. S. Bryukhonenko . He developed an auto-projector , the first apparatus in the world for cardiopulmonary bypass , the operation of which made it possible, in particular, to conduct an experiment on separating the dog’s head, shown in the popular science film “ Experiments on revitalizing the body ”. Brukhonenko managed to maintain the vital activity of the dog’s head completely separated from the body of the dog for 90 minutes, but the experiment was carried out at a low temperature ^[2] .

An experiment on the isolation of a cat's brain was carried out in the thirties of the 20th century by the Belgian neurohirug Friedrich Bremer . He developed a technique for the gradual separation of the head from the body, as well as a technique for observing the separated brain on an electroencephalogram ^[3] .

In the seventies, the American neurosurgeon Robert White conducted a series of successful experiments on isolating the brain of monkeys. Some monkey heads lived on artificial life support for several days, however, White's experiments were carried out at a low temperature close to hypothermia , and brain vital activity was monitored only according to the readings of the encephalogram ^[1] .

One of the first works of art that used the idea of ​​an isolated brain was the fantastic story of Karl Grunert, “Mr. Vivacius Style ”, first published between 1903 and 1914.

In 1925, in the form of a story, and then in 1937 in the form of a novel, the work of the famous Russian science fiction writer Alexander Belyaev, “ The Head of Professor Dowell, ” which was widely known, was published. Based on this novel, the film “ Testament of Professor Dowell ” was shot in the USSR in 1984. When the novel “The Head of Professor Dowell” was published, many felt that Belyaev was inspired by the results of S. S. Bryukhonenko’s experiments, which became known shortly before the first publication of the work, but Belyaev himself denied this assumption, explaining that the novel was completed long before how Brukhonenko conducted his experiment on isolating the brain of a dog ^[4] .

In Sergei Snegov ’s science fiction novel, People Like Gods , one of the heroes is the isolated brain of a highly intelligent alien, which is used as a supercomputer to control a military space station that warps world metrics.

In Matt Greining 's modern satirical animated series Futurama , many of the heroes of the past, having survived bodily death, remain in society in the form of heads separated from the body and placed in a jar of saline. Heroes thus continue to lead an active mental and social life.

Henry Kuttner's "Disguise" describes a transplant - a brain placed in a protective steel cylinder. According to the plot of the story, the transplant, which controls the interplanetary spacecraft, successfully confronts a group of criminals, which include a person who was a friend of the transplant before the isolation operation.

In the anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann , the head of the previously defeated Lord Genome is used as an onboard supercomputer, but Lord Genome himself has practically lost his identity, but not his memories.

Possible Worlds - 2000 Canadian Brain Theft Movie.

In the series Very Strange Things , references are made to extracting the brain over the protagonist Eleven.

• Brain in a flask

• S.S. Bryukhonenko . Cardiopulmonary bypass. Collection of papers on cardiopulmonary bypass / B.V. Petrovsky. - Moscow: Nauka, 1964 .-- 283 p. - 2500 copies.
• Frédéric Bremer. L'activité cerebral au cours du sommeil et de la narcose. Contribution à l`étude du mécanisme du sommeil. // Bulletin et memoires de l'Academie royale de medecine de Belgique. - Académie Royale de Medecine de Belgique, 1937 .-- T. 4 . - S. 68-86 . - ISSN 0377-8231 .

• An isolated brain is an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
• Video recording of Robert White's monkey brain isolation experiment.
• Scientists are working on a “human-on-a-chip”