Mike
the Headless Rooster
The
brains of humans and other animals are divided into different areas responsible
for different functions. In humans and other mammals, the three basic areas of
the brain are
·
The cerebrum, the large upper part of the brain
that is responsible for all voluntary and conscious activities, such as
voluntary movement, sensations such as sight, hearing and touch, intellect and
logic, memory, the voluntary portion of emotions, language and so on. The
cerebrum is particularly large in humans and other primates.
·
The cerebellum, a smaller highly folded lump of
brain at the back of the cranium, which is responsible for involuntary control
of balance and coordination.
·
The brainstem, which is responsible for the
control of life processes such as heartbeat, breathing and digestion.
Only the brainstem is absolutely essential for life.
Destruction of the brainstem removes the brain’s ability to control heartbeat
and its ability to stimulate breathing. On the other hand, damage to the
cerebrum, for instance due to trauma or a stroke, may interfere with memory,
movement or sensation, but does not have to be lethal. Similarly, damage to the
cerebellum, be it from trauma, alcoholism or other, may interfere with the
ability to walk, run or ride a bicycle, but again is not fatal.
The fact that a body can survive with only the brainstem
intact is witnessed by the tragic condition called anencephaly. A fetus that
develops with anencephaly develops without a cerebrum. Many of these fetuses
miscarry before term, and of those that survive pregnancy most are stillborn,
but some survive to full term and are born alive. These children, missing the
part of the brain responsible for conscious thought, can never be considered
fully alive, but in a technical sense they are living, because their hearts
beat and they breathe, all because their brainstem is intact. These children,
if they can correctly be called children, eventually succumb, although anencephalic infants have survived for up to several years. It is interesting to note
that these children can also breast feed, indicating that these functions are
also unconscious activities controlled by the brainstem.
This leads us to Mike the Headless Rooster. Mike, the
property of farmer Lloyd Olsen from Colorado in the USA, was chosen to be the
centerpiece of the dinner table on September 10, 1945. Lloyd’s mother-in-law
was visiting and Lloyd, knowing that his mother-in-law was partial to the neck
of the bird, chose to sever Mike’s neck as close to Mike’s head as possible.
Inadvertently, the axe severed Mike between the brainstem and the rest of the
brain, leaving the brainstem still attached to the spinal cord within the
headless body. Although it is not recorded exactly what happened in the minutes
that followed, what we can infer is that Mike’s body did not “die”. Of course,
Mike’s body was no longer capable of conscious thought, but having a brainstem,
breathing continued, albeit through the newly-severed trachea opening in the
neck.
It is remarkable what Mike’s body was capable of doing, even
when the upper parts of the brain were no longer present. Mike could walk
(having no eyes, he walked aimlessly), flap his wings and even peck blindly at
the ground. Mike could even be seen to ‘sleep’ by tucking his phantom head
under his wing. All these functions are controlled by the brainstem and spinal
cord, and removal of the head poses no barrier.
Decapitated roosters are known to run around the farmyard
for several minutes before succumbing to blood loss. The reason that Mike did
not bleed to death can only be guessed at. Perhaps blood clots in the major
arteries of the neck prevented exsanguination.
When it became apparent to Lloyd that Mike’s headless body
would not die, Mike was taken on tour. He toured the United States for 18
months. Lloyd fed Mike by using a syringe to squirt liquid food into his open oesophagus
in his neck. It was also necessary for his owner to periodically clear Mike’s
trachea, to prevent the buildup of mucus. Unfortunately one day this was not
done and Mike asphyxiated, ending Mike’s career as a celebrity.
Others have tried since then to replicate the Mike
experience, but without success.
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