• Question: would you like to have a brain transplant, whos brain would u have? Is it possible to have two brains?

    Asked by ninjanae to Damien, Rachael, Simon, Suzi, Tim on 20 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Hi @ninjanae
      I don’t think it would be possible to have 2 brains, but I’d rather that than someone else’s!! If someone else’s brain was put in my head, I wouldn’t have any of my own thoughts any more, so I wouldn’t like that.

      If I could have anyone else’s brain alongside mine though, I’d probably have Richard Feynman, the physicits!

      Who’s would you like?

    • Photo: Rachael Ward

      Rachael Ward answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      @ninjanae
      No, I wouldnt want to have a brain transplant as, even if it was possible, I dont think you’d have your own personality any more or your memories as your memories are all stored in your brain.

      While I wouldnt like to have anyone elses brain, I would like to be able to think like other people sometimes. Some people are known as polymaths – a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. I’d love to be equally good at neuroscience AND other subjects such as physics or art or languages. Leonardo da Vinci is an example of a polymath.

      An octopus kind of has more than one brain! It has a “brain” in the middle of its body but over half of its central nervous system is found in its arms and it can carry on living if the central brain is removed. It also has 3 hearts so its a pretty strange animal!

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