How long, if at all, does a decapitated head/brain stay conscious?

Question

I was just wondering if the person that it happened to still knows or feels what has happened to them after decapitation and for how long.


And, How is it possible to tell?

Answer 1

word on the street is 8-32 seconds~!

Answer 2

The current medical consensus is that life does survive, for a period of roughly thirteen seconds, varying slightly depending on the victim's build, health and the immediate circumstances of the decapitation. The simple act of removing a head from a body is not what kills the brain, rather, it is the lack of oxygen and other important chemicals provided in the bloodstream. To quote Dr. Ron Wright "The 13 seconds is the amount of high energy phosphates that the cytochromes in the brain have to keep going without new oxygen and glucose" (Cited from urbanlegends.com, no longer extant). The precise post-execution lifespan will depend on how much oxygen, and other chemicals, were in the brain at the point of decapitation; however, eyes could certainly move and blink.

This solely technical survival forms only part of the answer; the second question is 'how long does the victim remain aware?' While the brain remains chemically alive, consciousness CAN cease immediately, especially if the victim is knocked unconscious by the force of the decapitating blow. Conversely, an individual could remain self-aware - able to see through their eyes and understand what has happened - for much of the thirteen-second period. There is no consistency in this answer, as the precise length of both actual, and practical, survival will vary depending on the victim. Of course, this applies to many forms of swift decapitation, and not just to the victims of la guillotine.

Q: Doesn't the brain die after 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen?

A: No. Resuscitation after cardiac arrest longer than 4 to 6 minutes at normal body temperature typically results in irreversible brain injury, coma, or death. Therefore there is a popular belief that the brain "dies" after 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen. This is not true. Without oxygen or blood, brain cells die over a period of hours (not minutes).

So in reference to decapitation, the answer is the same. Hours for the brain cells to "die". No one know about pain or consciousness, because the nerves are all severed between the spinal cord and brain. It is assumed that the decapitation trauma, should the person remain conscious, simply sends the brains neurons into a random fire pattern, resulting in little or no pain.

Answer 3

I haven't seen any conclusive study on this subject (and I hope nobody is working on this) so I can only guess that the person will remain conscious for few seconds, say 3 o 4, after the head is separated from the body.

How to tell?
We know what parts of the brain get active when they process stimuli, say through the eyes. We could connect electrodes to the head before it gets separated from the body and record the activity after it is separated. That would show if there was any electrical activity in the brain. All you need to do is compare the signature of theses electrical signals to those that we already know the brain has when it is processing visual stimuli. Just an idea but I don’t think you will find any volunteer.

Answer 4

Don't forget that the electrical responses in the brain may still be able to function for a certain time period, as the signals come from the brain, and decapatitation does not sever that connection. The other documented case is in terms of possession by jinn..what is known as demon possession in english. The control of the features of the head can be maintained by the jinn after decapitation. In these cases, we cannot give an estimate. Also, consider a chicken/rooster who has been decapitated...they can easily keep running around withotu a head. This has also been documented.

Answer 5

I don't know the exact time but in medieval times when a person was decapitated the head was held up just long enough for it to register on the the brain that it was no longer connected to the body.

Answer 6

It takes constant blood pressure for you to remain conscious. Even if your blood pressure falls to below 50 mm Hg, you will lose consciousness. So you will lose consciousness instantaneously when you are decapitated. You may even lose consciousness prior to the decapitation from fear (vago-vagal reaction). This is what happens when people faint at the sight of blood, etc. The blood vessels dilate and the pressure falls below what is necessary to remain conscious.

Now it will take minutes for all the brain cells to die. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-8 minutes depending on the individual. But since it will take far longer than that to re-establish blood pressure to a decapitated brain, for all intents and purposes, it can be considered dead at the moment of decapitation. It is your reticular activating system (RAS) that is responsible for consciousness and it requires a constant mean arterial pressure of at least 50 mm Hg.

I believe that blinking, tearing, etc. that is seen after decapitaion is purely reflex and does not imply consciousness.

Answer 7

I've heard it's about 8 seconds as well.
The person won't feel anything, not from his/her neck and below anyway. That's because the spinal cord is severed when you have a full decapitation. The spinal cord is responsible for transferring neurons to your brain for a person to feel something.
Chances are the person won't know that he/she's been decapitated the moment the head is off (if it was cut from the back of the neck to the front), but the person will register that the head is off thanks to its eyes being able to still register images.

Answer 8

Several seconds. The executioners during the French Revolution noticed that sometimes the eyes of the beheaded would still moveafterwards for some moments. The US has the technology to keep chimpanzee heads conscious for up to several weeks due to drugs and blood hookups and tubes into the brain.

Answer 9

Probaly for about the length of time it would take for 1 or 2 heart beats (and yes I know there isn't a heart attached). I'm not even sure how you would tell though because it isn't exactly like the decapitated head can tell us.

Answer 10

No you wouldn't feel a thing after less than a second because you can't see or hear if only the blood pressure drops not to tell what happens if there is no pressure at all remaining.10 years ago I was wondering that too :D

Answer 11

During the middle ages theinventor of the guilotine actually ended up being one of its victims. Being a scientist till the end he actually told them to count how many times he was able to blink after his head was removed to determine how long he remained conscious. I think the count was 16.

Of course more tests need to be done. Any volenteers?