How Russian Scientists Kept a Dog’s Severed Head Alive!
Tue, Jun 24, 2008
image via Wikipedia
Can a head live without a body? The answer should be simple: yes, but only for a little while. Scientists say that the brain continues to function for about two minutes after the heart stops. But can a lopped off head continue to survive after being completely severed from the body?
Many would say no. However, it was widely reported in the media, that a Soviet scientist in the late 1920s by the name of Sergei Brukhonenko actually managed to keep the severed head of a dog alive. The dog’s head was reportedly connected to a primitive heart-lung machine called an “autojector” (or that’s what the inventor dubbed it). The device supposedly gives the head everything it needs to maintain life. Below is an illustrative video of how it’s meant to work (the actual video follows).
Brukhonenko presented a similar experiment in 1928 at an international scientific conference, at the Third Congress of Psysiologists of the USSR. However, his science has often been questioned. As proof of his dog experiment and to show that the head wasn’t just part of the corpse, a video follows where Brukhonenko does a series of tests. He shines a light in dog’s eyes making it blink. He hits the table with a hammer and the dog’s head reacts. And last but not least, to make things even more gross, he feeds the dog head a small piece of cheese, which lands on the table at the other end of the esophageal tube. Enjoy!
From that day forward controversy and speculation traveled the world over. Scientists divided in two camps: those who accepted the medical possibility and those who were skeptical. The latter suggest that the film may be just pure Soviet propaganda or simply medically impossible. What is interesting however, is that many physicians actually gave credit to Brukhonenko’s experiment, legitimizing the whole affair. So what do you think? Will we be able to replicate those live-heads off Futurama?
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5 Trackbacks For This Post
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meneame.net Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 10:44 pmEl experimento del doctor Sergei Brukhonenko…
En 1928 el científico soviético Sergei Brukhonenko mostró ante la prensa el autojector, un aparato que permitía que una cabeza de perro separada de su tronco permaneciera con vida (es un decir), y reaccionara ante estímulos como la comida, durante…
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El experimento Brukhonenko « Kurioso’s Weblog Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 11:14 pm[...] Fuentes 1,2,3,4 [...]
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El experimento del doctor Sergei Brukhonenko | Teléfonos móviles, adsl, gadgets y juegos. Says:
June 26th, 2008 at 8:36 am[...] » noticia original Datos del Feed: Feed: Menéame: publicadas Ir al origen de la noticia. [...]
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Russian Scientists Kept Dog’s Severed Head Alive « Cool Aggregator Says:
June 26th, 2008 at 6:46 pm[...] head alive for a period of time by hooking it up to a crude heart/lung machine. And he filmed it. Film at this link. I didn’t watch it. Just the still frame of this dog’s head attached to the machine has [...]
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EckerNet.Com » Blog Archive » Deep Thoughts With Kevin Says:
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:27 am[...] Apparently not finding that pesky AIDs thing challenging enough, Russian scientists have apparently learned how to keep the severed head of a dog alive. [...]
June 24th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Thats so amazing, Really is somthing aint it
June 24th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I think it’s a hoax. How could a head move without the help of the neck muscles?
June 24th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Wow, that was disturbing. In a sort of cool way.
Poor dog though.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
ABOMINABLE. This is torture of the worst nature. Oh my god. This man is a beast. That poor creature. This is wholly illegitimate. The experimenter should himself be the one being experiment on not any other living being. To do this to another living being is to become a monster.
June 25th, 2008 at 1:50 am
It is not a severed head. The indicator is the movement of the head during the tests. If the head was severed, it could not lift up, twist, etc. It is attached to the dog’s neck under the table. The neck moves the head. Otherwise it would just lay there like a grapefruit.
June 25th, 2008 at 1:50 am
dude that is amazing
June 25th, 2008 at 2:54 am
Next, we’ll see Mars Attacks copycats.
June 25th, 2008 at 5:11 am
That is horrid!
June 25th, 2008 at 6:13 am
So were these “scientists” killed in a horrible manner or were they simply shot dead?
June 25th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
es horrible…deberian prohibir de una vez la experimentacion con animales.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Hay que ser hijodeputa para hacerle eso a un perro. Eso no es ciencia. Es puro morbo
June 25th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
this is a perfect example of science going to far.
doesn’t your heart tell you that this is wrong to do to animals or any other living being?
sure we made allot of discoveries from the horrors we have created through history,but isn’t enough,enough?
you should respect what you eat, your pets and life.
it would be one thing if they were treating an ailment,but they are creating the harm.
reason itself isn’t always right*.
wake up people-this is sickness!
June 26th, 2008 at 1:20 am
I so agree with Daniel. The head could possibly move without the help of the neck muscles. That’s very smart Daniel.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Are U kidding me! It is obviously a hoax. There is no lung, where does the blood get oxygen and get rid of CO2. The dog reacts and gets anxious and starts to breath faster and move, the "machines" which are connected with him cannot respond to different hormonal strength. It Makes no sense if it would be a severed head attached to machines it would not move this normally. Maybe be alive in a coma. LAME!!!June 26th, 2008 at 4:25 am
A few points:
- a brain consumes 20% of a body’s glucose and oxygen. Even a slight variance causes coma and death.
- toxins must be removed from the blood constantly. Mammals can not survive even a short time without a liver.
- the brain uses two fluids: blood and CSF (Cereberal Spinal Fluid) which fills the brain’s ventricles. The pressure between the two has to be homeostatically balanced very exactingly or death occurs. The video makes no mention of CSF.
- CN XI (Cranial Nerve 11), which coordinates head and neck movements, originates in the brainstem and the spinal cord. No spinal cord, no accessory movements of neck-head muscles.
I remain skeptical.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:05 am
I was really disturbed by this, but I do think now it is a hoax. The head wouldn’t be able to move without neck muscles, which would have to be anchored to a body. Plus they don’t show the underside of the table or the back of the head.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:51 am
An American scientist did this with a monkey head back in the 60s or 70s I believe. I’ve seen the footage of that experiment - so it’s totally possible. Amazing that this dude managed to do this way back when in the 20s however!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I booked Linda Lovelace head…just by the way…
June 26th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
This is a hoax! Right up there with the supposed moon landing.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
As a grown man, with a family, and a dog of my own, this video made me weep–hoax or not.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Menuda trola. What a lie!!
El único que realmente ha hecho experimentos de trasplante de cabezas, con simios y no con perros, es el Dr. White. Eso sí es real, no esta chorrada.
The only one who actually experimented with heads transplants was Dr. White, but he did it with apes, not dogs. That’s true, not this nonsense.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
In addition to the points already made, I’d like to mention that the camera never shows the entire contraption. Except at the beginning, when there is an establishing shot that *seems* to show a beheaded dog, all other shots are so close up that you can’t see what is beyond the dog’s neck. This could VERY easily be a manipulation — as simple as a hole in a table with the dog’s head sticking out, and a box under the table that holds the dog’s (attached) body.
This is very clearly a hoax, but what we don’t see on the film are the many dogs the experimenter probably killed before he realized that keeping a dog’s head alive is impossible.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Oh shut the hell up. I get so tired of seeing people so empathetic to an animal but seem to miss the boat on opportunity to reciprocate this emotion to a fellow man. This “being” is already dead and this is an experiment in the name of progression of science. What if this research led inadvertently to the preservation of thousands of human lives? Or even one of your family members? Take your empathy and shove it, people that make these statements are oversensitive and under rational. Think with your head when appropriate and not your heart. Because it’s often your heart which causes you to go to war, not your head.
PETA by the way, and admittedly off topic, is an organization of people with too much time and money. I personally condemn a majority of animal rights activists actions. Such as their outrage at the scene in “I am Legend” where the dog is off camera and implicated as killed. This was enough to unleash a media response. Shut the hell up. How much more reason do we need give the rest of the world to laugh at our pointlessness and extravagance?
June 28th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
This is absolutely impossible. The dog’s head wouldn’t be capable to move without a neck. there would be lots of blood pouring from the neck cut. It is impossible to the dog’s head to swallow without the neck muscles and bones. Obviously the dog is sedated and his body is under the table. We are in the 21St century now and we know this is not possible, at least with those 1930’s rudimentary machinery.
July 4th, 2008 at 5:32 am
From memory, there is an isolated brain experiment where the guinea pig brain (I think) survived for two days without a liver.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:26 am
My question is why did a Soviet scientist have citric acid with an English label?
July 7th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
THIS IS SICK!
July 9th, 2008 at 2:49 am
Okay, seriously. Where would the neck muscles attach? And the tongue? You do realize that muscles work by shortening while attached to two bones, right? Also, in addition to circulatory problems, no animal can survive being severed from its spinal cord.
Anyone who thought this was real needs to take an anatomy class.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Ethical questions aside, the possibility would exist.
I would consider it unlikely in 1998 let alone 1928. If you look at the picture, there does appear to be a bit of neck present. If it was a head severed at the foramen magnum, the head would be much shorter than what is pictured and would likely try to lie fairly vertical as opposed to being on the side.
If the muscles were attached to neck, it could allow some movement. I do agree that the given range of motion would imply and even necessitate the attachment of the muscles to the lower neck and shoulders. I would further agree that the dog is likely sedated and under the table. Any cheese dropping through the esophageal tube would likely be a trick Ala Penn and Teller.
I could easily see this as propaganda. Either it was intended as Soviet propaganda demonstrating their scientific advances or as US/UK sponsored reverse propaganda demonstrating their unethical and monstrous ways.
Simply put, possible but EXTREMELY unlikely. I don’t buy it for a minute.
I wont even get into organic functions such as liver, kidney etc.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
That’s nothing! I understand that Russian scientists later recovered Hitler’s head, which was subjected to the same treatment before being transplanted onto one of Stalin’s super-gorilla/human hybrid warriors!
Not really. But that would be SO DAMN COOL, wouldn’t it?
November 2nd, 2008 at 3:30 am
“Oh shut the hell up. I get so tired of seeing people so empathetic to an animal but seem to miss the boat on opportunity to reciprocate this emotion to a fellow man. This “being” is already dead and this is an experiment in the name of progression of science. What if this research led inadvertently to the preservation of thousands of human lives? Or even one of your family members? Take your empathy and shove it, people that make these statements are oversensitive and under rational. Think with your head when appropriate and not your heart. Because it’s often your heart which causes you to go to war, not your head.
PETA by the way, and admittedly off topic, is an organization of people with too much time and money. I personally condemn a majority of animal rights activists actions. Such as their outrage at the scene in “I am Legend” where the dog is off camera and implicated as killed. This was enough to unleash a media response. Shut the hell up. How much more reason do we need give the rest of the world to laugh at our pointlessness and extravagance?”
My thoughts exactly! I applaud you.
November 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
thats so fucked up its not even cool. like they do they that crazy shit