How Long Can Humans Live Without Their Head? (longer than you think)

in 2011 dutch scientists connected mice. to a brain scanner and. cut their heads off they discovered that. mice remained conscious for up to four. seconds after decapitation other studies. show that small mammals remained aware. for up to 29 seconds now if this is also. true for humans it would provide enough. time for a pretty gruesome experience. and might also explain some pretty. grisly stories from history so does a. human head remain conscious after being. separated from its body it sure does.

let's find out why. [Music]. a common method of execution throughout. history has been beheading and it's easy. to see why it sends a powerful message. that kept citizens in line for thousands. of years throughout history we find many. stories about how some decapitated heads. still move their eyes or make facial. expressions usually of anguish or. despair some have even made sounds. despite being severed from the rest of. their body there's even a famous story. about a man who attended the execution.

of his friend during the french. revolution the seconds after the. guillotine fell the man retrieved the. severed head and asked it a series of. questions and through blinking and. facial expressions the victim allegedly. communicated with his friend this type. of post head chopped off consciousness. is called lucid decapitation so. scientists and doctors started to ask. the question does a person really stay. conscious and aware after losing their. head well the answer is not only is it. possible but it's medically proven. debate on the subject started ever since.

charlotte corday was guillotined in 1793. for murder the executioner's assistant. lifted her head by the hair and slapped. it on both cheeks for some reason and. eyewitnesses reported that quote her. face took on an angry expression and for. a moment or two there was a look of a. ghastly stare which implied that the. head was aware of its ignominious. situation the. it means humiliating i know what it. means. anyway. french doctors argue that witnesses were. confusing nervous spasms with voluntary.

motion and very little research was. conducted on the subject until 1905 when. a french doctor named barrow was allowed. to make an investigation of a severed. head his um. subject was a criminal named henri. lungieel and immediately after. guillotining here's what dr barreaux. wrote in his journal after the. decapitation the eyelids and lips. spasmed for about five seconds the face. relaxed the leads half closed leaving.

only the whites visible it was then that. they called out in a strong voice. longhill as in so the eyelids slowly. lift up this even movement quite. distinct and normal such as with people. awakened or torn from their thoughts. next longeel's eyes definitely fixed on. mine and the pupils focused i was not. then dealing with a vague dull look i. was dealing with undeniably living eyes. which were looking at me after several. seconds the eyelids closed again i.

called out again and once more without. any spasm the eyelids lifted and living. eyes fixed themselves on mine with more. penetration since the first time since. there was a further closing of the. eyelids but now less complete i. attempted this third call but there was. no further movement. and the eyes took on the glazed look. which they have in the dead. [Music]. um. are you okay dear sport. hello.

oh boy not again. sorry folks the human gets a little. squeamish. uh oh we'll be back after these messages. by the mid 20th century the government. of france wasn't so sure beheading was. as painless as its supporters claimed in. the 1950s a study by doctors pio de. livre and fournier concluded that death. by guillotine is not instantaneous the. report said every vital element survives. decapitation the last man to be.

guillotined in france was tunisian-born. killer hamida danjubi in 1977. don jubi. became the last person in western europe. to be executed by the state before. france officially abolished capital. punishment in 1981. the french. authorities had already banned public. executions after the heading of eugene. wiedman in 1939 this event was secretly. filmed by a member of the crowd in. versailles and once the horrible film. made the rounds the government preferred. to do its killing in private however. there is one decapitated head which.

still sort of lives on at the university. of lisbon's facility of medicine diogo. alves was portugal's first serial killer. and one of the last people to be. executed in the country in 1841. his. severed head was actually cut off and. studied by scientists following his. hanging and is now preserved in a glass. jar in the medical school they had this. head for 150 years yup. why keep it sometimes it's just really. hard to throw things away. [Music]. okay so chopping off your head doesn't.

result in immediate death but just how. long do you actually survive some. doctors have said a human head could. survive up to 15 minutes but it's. probably just a few seconds when the. brain runs out of oxygen this is called. anoxia and all motor functions stop. though the headless body lives on for. about another minute until the heart. stops pumping but if we look at some. other animals some of them can survive. for longer than you think. cockroaches can live for weeks without. their head and if the wound is able to. seal itself off well it just keeps on.

going. headlessly a decapitated snake's head. can still bite you and release venom. without its body headless frogs still. jump snapping turtles still snap for. hours. just the heads but the craziest headless. animal has got to be the chicken. specifically miracle mike no the movie. with the male strippers no no no that's. magic mike yeah i don't think you're. right about that. i am. miracle mike was a chicken who belonged. to a farmer in colorado named lloyd.

olson and lloyd was planning on having a. little chicken dinner but after chopping. off miracle mike's head he kept walking. around the farmer kept walking around no. miracle mike the chicken what yup he was. able to balance himself run around and. was still trying to peck for food. so lloyd decided to keep him as a pet oh. no this. this isn't real oh it is. lloyd fed miracle mike a mixture of milk. and water with an eye dropper to keep. him alive and even dropped small grains.

of corn down mike's. neck hole gross just get a puppy for. crying out loud this is crazy what's. even crazier is miracle mike lived for. 18 more months without his head he went. on tour made public appearances he was. even on the cover of time life magazine. that's a terrible way to become famous. miracle mike was considered to be very. healthy the only reason he died was. because one of those corn kernels got. stuck in his nickel. right it is a lesson in there somewhere.

probably. but i don't know what it is. thank you so much for hanging out with. me today my name is aj that's hecklefish. this has been the y-files if you had fun. or learn anything do me a favor and like. subscribe comment and share all that. stuff really helps out the channel and. until next time be safe be kind and know. that you are appreciated. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music].

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