the man with two bodies

[mother engine]

this idea comes from a friend:

based on evidence that an individual can survive with only one hemisphere (either side) of a brain [see split brain operations for seizure victims] and supposing it were possible to transplant a human brain into another body, if a brain were to be split and placed into seperate bodies would the result be two of the same person, two seperate individuals or something else entirely?

[Sobabi]

they clearly would not be two of the same person, nor would they be two normal individuals. It is impossibly complicated to predict what the conscious experiece of these two new individuals would be. Each person's cognitive function would be seriously disturbed and their memories incomplete. The most i can say about it is that their perception the world and themselves and their own past would be well what i would call "accurate".

[InfiniteNow]

Quick answer? No.

The brain is an organ, not a person. It is the aggregate of all of the body's nerve impulses, blood flow, cellular mechanisms, and how this all supports itself that composes the person. And that's just the internal stuff. A person is also composed of the percpetions of those around them, and the situational variables surrounding their life.

If someone gets my heart through a transplant, does that mean they will be just as sweet and kind as I am? Absolutely not. The brain would be no different. While there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the brain and heart, they are both just organs helping with various survival functions and do not comprise (IMO) that which composes us.

It's all the notes together that make the music. I can't just take a b flat from a Beethoven symphony and put a b flat into another tune and have the same experience. There's more to music than just notes, and there's more to "us" than just the brain.

[InfiniteNow]

The result of such an operation would also be two individuals suffering from severe mental handicaps...

[GAHD]

An intersting idea, though I cant really predict what would happen (maby one could speak while the other could only write?). Who wants to try it on trained rats?

[mother engine]

Originally Posted by Sobabi

Each person's cognitive function would be seriously disturbed and their memories incomplete.

from what i understand none of the patients who undergo split brain procedure have memory problems, so why should either of the hypothetical people?

[mother engine]

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

The brain is an organ, not a person.

the brain could be construed as the seat of personality though.

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by mother engine

based on evidence that an individual can survive with only one hemisphere (either side) of a brain [see split brain operations for seizure victims] and supposing it were possible to transplant a human brain into another body, if a brain were to be split and placed into seperate bodies would the result be two of the same person, two seperate individuals or something else entirely?

The common term “split brain operation” for a corpus callosotomy is something of a misnomer. Severing the corpus callosum separates the 2 hemisphere’s of the cerebrum, but doesn’t separate the cerebrum from the cerebellum and brain stem. While some or part of the corpus callosum can be severed without much ill effect, cutting the entire brain in half or removing one or both hemispheres of the cerebrum from the other brain parts would, using current surgical techniques, almost certainly be fatal.

Some types of conjoined twins have 2 full or partial brains in the same skull, sharing nerves and blood supplies. Mother engine’s questions about the identity of such people might apply to these cases.

[InfiniteNow]

Originally Posted by mother engine

from what i understand none of the patients who undergo split brain procedure have memory problems, so why should either of the hypothetical people?

The brain does not have exact bilateral symmetry. Also, memory functions tend to be coupled with other survival functions in the center of the brain, amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, etc, areas often termed as the reptillian brain. It's not like you can cut down the center and have half of the memories on one side and half of the memories on the other. There's a bit more to it than that.

Originally Posted by mother engine

the brain could be construed as the seat of personality though.

And God can be construed as the creater of the universe, but I don't have any evidence of that either.


Cheers.