what does your brain contain?

[SWM]

driving in to work this morning there was a story on the news about an appeal from the medical science community for more people to leave their brains to medical science.   

at first i was a bit amused at the though of scientists fumbling about with the squashy cabbage looking piece of my anatomy. i then thought about the process of brain transplants and if that could be done at some time in the future. quite amused by my own meanderings. i continued thinking around this subject and began to wonder what is actually in the brain. if my brain was transplanted to another person what would that other person find in my brain when they woke up after the operation.

how much of me would be transplanted with my brain? my own views about the consciousness/spirit/mind, body/brain obviously influence my thoughts a great a great deal.  for me the brain is tool that the spirit uses to control the body in the material world.

so i wondering what other people think about their brain, and this idea that if your brain was given to another person what else would be transfered to that person?

[darkdan]

I subscribe to a purely biological view of the brain.  If you transferred your brain to someone else, they'd be you.  Damages to the frontal cortex have shown to drastically change people's personalities and judgments.  I believe the brain is you and you are your brain.  Move it, damage it, improve it....it's still you.

You might be interested in the movie I posted here: http://psychologyforum.us/psychology-theories-forum/mindshock-transplating-memories-(-heart-transplant-patients-getting-memories-)/

They think that memories and/or personality could be partially stored in the heart (just because the heart has neurons, yet they don't mention how many or what type).  Which I doubt, since his study shows 2 to 5 parallels in only 5% to 10% of patients.  Even one of the people mentioned before that they were worried they'd change after the surgery!

[coyote]

Wouldnt transplanting your brain also transplant your thoughts and desires? I am a straight woman, so if a male recieved my brain, would he become a gay male? Would he love and desire my husband, feel a longing for a child, adore my dog?  Wouldnt he have my memories instead of his?

[darkdan]

I think it's less "he" would be "you", but rather you would have a different body.

[coyote]

I think your right.........In that case, Can I have a female body, of someone say 17, who dosent smoke, do drugs and has no STD's? Height and weight proportionate, with good hair and kinda cute? I feel like I'm planning a date withmyself!!