5 questions about head transplant

Head implants can be confused with body implants and head implantation techniques do not work with frozen heads.

Questions about the first human head transplant in history

1. Why call "head implant" without "body transplant"?

The name of head surgery comes partly from experiments with dogs and monkeys in the 20th century.

Technically, body transplantation will be a more accurate name because the head is only a representative of the recipient of the new body. However, this is not a whole body transplant. The term is often used to describe the process by which a living organism's brain is transplanted into the body of another living organism.

The Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero calls this a head implant that will make people more clearly imagine that it involves the head and the inner brain.

2. How are head and brain transplants different?

In a brain transplant, doctors remove the brain from the skull and place it in the donor's skull . This case is more difficult than the first implant because the separation of the brain and blood supply without damaging the thin tissue is often very complicated.

Dr. Sergio Canavero claims to be able to transplant a human head in 2017, while many say that this is impossible.(Photo: Mirror)

3. Can implant techniques work with frozen heads?

The answer is no. The proposed technique requires healthy head and brain . Scientists are not clear whether it is possible to " defrost" a part of the head that has been frozen and restores healthy brain tissue.

According to RT, the operation of Valery Spiridonov - the first transplant volunteer, will be carried out by the neurosurgeon Italy Sergio Canavero, scheduled to last 36 hours with the participation of 150 doctors and nurses. The patient's brain is cooled to 10-15 degrees Celsius to prolong the life of the cell in the absence of oxygen. After that, Canavero used a scalpel to cut through the spinal cord and used a special bio-glue to connect the head to the new body. After surgery, Valery will be in a coma state for 3-4 weeks and immunosuppressed

4. Does the surgery cause psychological harm?

Some face or foot surgeons have regretted their old bodies or the feeling that their current image is quite contradictory. Studies have shown that heart rate or stomach can affect our will, emotion or language strength . No one knows whether the person coming out of the operating room will be like someone who entered before.

5. What is the benefit of being transplanted from a healthier body?

If the recipient is older than the donor body, they can be rejuvenated, because the young blood transfusion process can increase the physical resistance and cognitive function in older animals . There is currently a study to see if they work similarly to people with Alzheimer's disease.