What Can You Do Without a Brain?

Hello, Vsauce. Miguel here. And subscribing to Vsauce is a no-

brain

er, isn't it? I mean, you would need your

brain

to understand the words he was saying, and you would need your brain to decide whether or not you liked

what

you were hearing. You'll also need your brain to move your muscles in the right way to click the subscribe button. In fact, you need your brain to do a lot of things and without a brain, well, you can't do much of anything. So, literally speaking, is there really such a thing as an "obvious" thing? Let's start with the decapitation without headbutts.

It's a macabre topic, I know, but

what

's going on? Are you chicken? Alright. Because Mike certainly was. In 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen went out for a chicken dinner. He cut off the chicken's head and it didn't die. Mike The Headless Chicken lived another 18 months. He toured the country and surprised viewers. He could walk and perch and fed by putting small drops of water or pieces of grain down his throat. But here's the thing. Mike The Headless Chicken's actions were a no-brainer, because although he didn't have much of what we would call a "head" left, he did have a bit of his brainstem left.

If we want a clearer truism, we'll have to look at an even simpler creature: the cockroach. These guys don't even breathe through their heads, so without one, they're fine. Instead, they breathe through holes throughout their bodies. And instead of being controlled by a big, massive brain, they have tiny bundles of nerves, ganglia, all over their bodies, so even without any part of the head, even when completely decapitated, a cockroach can live for weeks. . Can walk, respond to movement. Really his only problem is that without his head he will eventually starve to death. We humans are not so lucky.

Without a head or brain we die in a matter of seconds, if not instantly. But before you get jealous, keep in mind that with our heads intact, we are able to perform some actions that don't necessarily require the brain: reflexes. When you snap your finger, it moves at about 20 mph. And a very loud sneeze can expel air at almost 30 to 40 mph. But nerve impulses are very fast. They can reach 250 mph, but sometimes that's not even fast enough. For example, if you accidentally put your hand on a hot stove, the cells quickly die. And 250 mph is not enough, you need to take action quickly.

It's not worth telling your brain what's happening right away. And so, instead, your immediate reaction to move away is mediated by other parts of your nervous system. The same can be said of involuntary and unconscious processes. So in some ways, these unconscious, involuntary, or reflexive behaviors could be considered a no-brainer. But I'm still not entirely satisfied because they still require your brain to be there, keeping you alive. So what would happen if you weren't alive? Well, in your dead, brainless body, your muscle cells still contain some energy in the form of ATP. Backyard Brains, right here on YouTube, demonstrates this with insect parts.

This leg is no longer connected to a brain or body, but the energy remains in the cells. And so researchers can detect electrical signals when you touch your leg or even just breathe. "Wow, that clicking sound you're hearing is the spontaneous firing rate of living neurons in the still-living leg." The muscle cells of a human limb would respond in exactly the same way. But you don't need wires to observe behavior like this. Salt can also be the solution. The introduction of sodium ions can trigger a process similar to an action potential in a living animal. The salt added to these fresh frog legs makes them dance, although not for long.

The cells will eventually run out of energy or simply break down. But there are undoubtedly many other short candidates for truisms at the time of death. For example, muscles relax and cause a person to become dirty. Technically, a no-brainer. But it is a mistake to think that a corpse continues to grow nails and hair. It's actually the skin itself that shrinks as it dries, making hair and nails appear longer. But let's take a closer look at these skin cells, because we might arrive at a pretty satisfying truism. Your skin cells live on the periphery of your body and do not require a constant flow of new nutrients from your blood.

And so, even if you're dead and your brain is no longer making decisions, your skin cells can continue to live, gathering nutrients through osmosis and dividing for days. In fact, skin cells can be harvested from a cadaver after 24 hours. On a related note: digestion. Of course, much of the digestive process is completed if you are alive and have a functioning nervous system. But part of the work is done by bacteria that live inside the intestine. And when you are dead or your brain is gone, they will continue to digest. So in some ways, pooping, at least part of that process, is a no-brainer.

But here's the thing. These bacteria that live inside you are foreign bacteria. You are? In fact, what about skin cells that can continue to live after you die? Is it you or are they simply cells for which you have created a good home? We're getting pretty philosophical here because we're basically wondering if you're just your brain and everything else that happens when you no longer have one are just other things you're not doing. One could argue that without a brain your body no longer has your intentions. He no longer does things because you have decided to do them.

In other words, you may find it impossible to do something obvious because it requires not using it. If you are simply what your brain does and not what your cells do on their own when the brain disappears, then in some ways, being you, being alive, is a yes decision. Another great idea is to check out Vsauce3. You can find some scientific analysis of video games, some LÜT for gamers, and some cool apps to download. Go see that. And as always, thanks for watching.