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Sergio Canavero's Head Transplant Trials
- Surgically removing and transplanting a human head has been attempted, notably by Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero.
- His work includes transplanting a chimpanzee head and mice head transplants as experimental steps.
Brain as Consciousness Seat
- Our culture assumes the brain uniquely houses consciousness, making it central to identity.
- The idea that conscious experience is brain-bound is a key motivation behind head transplant research and related sci-fi.
Dennett's Brain in a Vat Story
- Daniel Dennett's thought experiment imagines his brain separated from his body and placed in a vat linked to it.
- This raises questions of personal identity and locates consciousness ambiguously between brain and body.