A neuroscientist claims that a head transplant is possible

He head transplant (or of the body, depending on how you look at it) is a surgical procedure that has given rise to several movies and television series, such as the classic Frankenstein or the Matt Groening series futurama.

However, the famous publication Surgical Neurology International he has reported a few days ago research carried out by Dr. Sergio Canavero at the University of Turin, which concludes that head transplantation is medically possible, and details the procedure by which it could be achieved.

Head transplant: science fiction or reality?

Dr. Canavero is based on a controversial investigation that took place in the year 1970. One year after man landed on the Moon, Dr. Robert Whites succeeded in transplanting the head of a rhesus monkey into the body of another exemplary, as well as in dogs and rabbits where they were also successful, demonstrating that the reinsertion of the head into a body is not impracticable.

Canavero comments that it is necessary for this procedure to cool the head and spine of the animal at 18ºC, and make "clean cuts" using a super-sharp scalpel, with the aim of

separate the two spinal cords and subsequently draining the blood from the head of the transplanted subject before joining the two spinal cords by means of an inorganic polymer, which functions as an adhesive.

In experimentation, Canavero also states that it can be especially difficult to ensure a correct integration of all the fibers. but he suggests that a few correct connections would be enough to gain some degree of voluntary control of the movements. Stimulation by electrical microdischarges of the spinal cord (SCS) would also help to improve the plasticity of the nerve cells, which would result in a progressive takeover of the brain in order to control and dominate its new body.

Canavero points out that this procedure needs to be studied in depth from now on, as it could give hope to people who suffer from severe illnesses and conditions.

It may be absurd to think about the possibility of transplanting a head, but the truth is that a review of the science of medicine in recent times attests that some procedures that seemed science fiction, such as face transplants, are today a reality. It may only be a matter of time before medical technology enables the first head transplant.

• Fountain: The Verge