If you haven't seen it yet, everyone's raving about The Neurophilosopher's excellent post about the history of trepanation. Trepanning creates a hole in the skull; cultures have done it for a variety of superstitious reasons over the ages.
I've wanted to do a (far more brief) post on the subject myself, since it's begging for more debunking. Self-trepanning advocate Bart Hughes claims that trepanation induces higher states of consciousness by increasing blood volume in the brain and decreasing cerebrospinal fluid. Increased vitality, etc.
This about that: trepanning can't affect blood flow or volume inside the brain since the hole doesn't penetrate the dura mater. It's not physically possible. CSF is located in the subarachnoid layer, below the dura (see figure; click for larger image). Mr. Hughes and his followers only opened their skulls.
It's also quite unnecessary if all you want is more blood flow in the brain. A quote from The Neurocritic: "There are a lot of ways you can increase blood flow to the brain. One of them is raising your metabolic rate, you don't need to drill a f***ing hole in your head."
It doesn't make one smarter, younger or happier anyway. One man who underwent a home procedure only to conclude it didn't work warns, "I would, at this time, warn against undergoing this procedure, mostly to anyone who was considering this as a way to alleviate chronic depression. If someone underwent this hoping it would be a panacea for all of their troubles and then it wasn't, that might just push them off the edge." He adds, "As much I hate to realize it, I believed what I wanted to believe."
For an interesting look at the contemporary subculture around trepanation, and his story, complete with diary and gory pictures, check out this page at the fab BME body modifications site.
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Have you guys given permission for your post to be reproduced?
Posted by: Mo | June 16, 2007 3:49 PM