Can the heart pump without a brain to begin with? If the heart stops first, is the heart more sensitive to oxygen loss?
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Emergency services often learn about the “tripple two”. 2 weeks without food, 2 days without water and 2 minutes without air.
And the last one is what you are wondering about. The heart is a muscle. And like all muscles, its controlled by your brain. In particular, its a basic system controlled by the stem of your brain. Just like breathing.
So when the brain dies. Your heart stops. And your brain dies after running out of oxygen. Roughly 2 minutes after your last breath.
When you take a heart from a body that is functioning well, the heart will keep beating for a while more. This is called muscle memory. Its a queue of signals from your brain that was not yet completed, but stored locally.
If you are interested in having a heart working without a brain, you can. The signal it needs is a low voltage and ampere power pulse. This is how they keep hearts healthy between organ donors.
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