The bizarre study offers a possibility to extend life if human brains were to ever kept on life support outside of the body. Researchers were able to restore circulation to the brains of decapitated pigs and keep the reanimated organs alive for as long as 36 hours - a feat which allowed them to study intact brains in new detail. In a “mind-boggling” and “unexpected” result, Yale University neuroscientist Nenad Sestan found billions of individual cells in the 100-200 pig brains were found to be healthy and capable of normal activity.

Professor Sestan said in a presentation to National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials: “This is probably not unique to pigs. He added the technique was likely to work in any species, including primates.

Prof Sestan’s team had experimented on between 100 and 200 pig brains obtained from a slaughterhouse, restoring their circulation using a system of pumps, heaters, and bags of artificial blood warmed to body temperature. There was, however, no evidence that the disembodied pig brains regained consciousness. According to website Technology Review, scientists and bioethicists have been buzzing about research, which involves a breakthrough in restoring micro-circulation—the flow of oxygen to small blood vessels, including those deep in the brain.

Scientists have discovered how to keep a brain alive for 36 hours after death

More than a hundred brains were tested in the study (stock image)

Steve Hyman, director of psychiatric research at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who was among those briefed on the work, said: “These brains may be damaged, but if the cells are alive, it’s a living organ. “It’s at the extreme of technical know-how, but not that different from preserving a kidney.” Mr Hyman says the similarity to techniques for preserving organs like hearts or lungs for transplant could cause some to mistakenly view the technology as a way to avoid death.

Hyman said: “It may come to the point that instead of people saying ‘Freeze my brain,’ they say ‘Hook me up and find me a body.’” Such hopes are misplaced, at least for now. Transplanting a brain into a new body “is not remotely possible,” according to Hyman. The Yale system, called BrainEx, involves connecting a brain to a closed loop of tubes and reservoirs that circulate a red perfusion fluid, which is able to carry oxygen to the brain stem, the cerebellar artery, and areas deep in the centre of the brain.

The study offers a breakthrough in restoring micro-circulation