164 | Would a Head Transplant Work?

Someone suffering from severe muscle-wasting diseases or other muscular or bone-degenerative diseases that aren't neurological might very much like a new body. But there are many many things to connect to the brain to make this work. You might think that a brain transplant would be easier, but it would likely but much more difficult. A few researchers have tried this, but skeptics have pointed out several flaws to even the notion of trying to sever and reattach heads. For now, we are better off putting our research to use solving the muscular problems and avoid causing heads to roll!Links for Today: https://www.livescience.com/60987-human-head-transplants-will-never-work.html (Live Science article arguing that a head transplant isn’t possible)https://youtu.be/IQQwQzzoQqQ (Short video describing the Ren study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5705925/ (Ren study reporting their “successful” head transplant of cadavers)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6511668/ (2019 Article following up on Ren study to suggest what needs to be done to make this feasible)https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2017/nov/17/no-there-hasnt-been-a-human-head-transplant-and-may-never-be-sergio-canavero (Skepticism about the feasibility of a head transplant)RecommendationsShane: TED talks, the official TED guide to public speaking (https://www.ted.com/read/ted-talks-the-official-ted-guide-to-public-speaking) Abraham: Mistborn Fantasy Book Series by Brandon Sanderson (https://www.goodreads.com/series/40910-mistborn) You can reach us directly at 775.525.0908, at [email protected], through the comments below OR on social via @wwdwwdpodcast or #wwdwwdpodcast.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.