Whose Brain is it Anyway? Want attention? Carry around a model of the human brain. by Susan R. Barry, Ph.D.

Did you know that Michelangelo may have hidden images of brains in the frescoes on the Sistine Chapel? This idea was discussed in an article in May in the Journal Neurosurgery. The report caused quite a stir with stories about it appearing in major newspapers and on national radio programs. Yet, ten years ago, a report in a different medical journal provided evidence that Michelangelo hid pictures of a kidney in a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This revelation attracted far less attention. Brains, it seems, are more interesting than kidneys.

Since I teach biology and neurobiology, I occasionally carry a model of a heart or brain around the college campus to use in classrooms in different buildings. When I carry a model of a heart, no one pays me the least attention. It's a completely different story, however, when I carry around a model of the human brain. People do a double take and run over to get a closer look:

"Is that a brain?" they ask.

"Yup."

"A human brain?"

"Right again."

(With some hesitation) ... "Is it real?"

"No, it's plastic."

"Can I touch it?"

"Sure, it's just plastic."

"It's not life-sized is it? It looks kind of small."

"Actually this model's bigger than life-sized. We may think we are smart, but physically our brains are not that big. Even so, they contain about 100 billion neurons."

Why does everyone stop me when they see me carrying a model of a brain, but not a heart? Why do people care about hidden images of brains but not kidneys on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? It would be futile to argue about which organs are more important; we need all of them to survive. Yet, heart and kidney transplants are possible, but, with the brain's multiple connections and interactions with the body, we can't transplant a brain. What's more, it's possible to look at a heart and see how it functions, how it pumps the blood. The brain, on the other hand, is still very mysterious. Images of the brain may be pretty iconic, but its gross appearance gives few clues as to how it works, how it helps generate our conscious feelings, memories, and thoughts.