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Sun, 9th Jan 2011

Would you donate your body to science?

We're discussing human dissection in this week's Naked Scientists. Chris visits the dissection room to find out how trainee doctors benefit from dissecting real bodies, and why many medical schools are increasingly turning to alternatives. We're joined by physician and film maker Paul Trotman, who followed the lives, and beyond, of three donors to explore the reasons why people choose to donate their bodies, and the impact the process had on the student's lives. In Naked Engineering, we find out how a design that copies the body's own structure and movements can make better artificial limbs. Plus, how women's tears can manipulate men's moods, the perfect melody to send shivers up your spine and the headphones which can cancel out the sound of the dentist's drill.

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In this edition of Naked Scientists

01:54 - IVF study could lead to prediction test

More than 10 per cent of couples worldwide are infertile, and some of them turn to in vitro fertilisation or IVF, in the hope of having a baby. But it can be a difficult and heartbreaking process for many couples and there's no guarantee of success. But now a new study could le...
04:24 - Tears manipulate men's moods

Tears are traditionally judged to be a visual display of emotion, and humans, it's claimed, are the only species to shed them. But now scientists in Israel have found that they can also carry chemical messages to alter the moods of others close by, an observation which fits wit...

07:23 - Chills of Musical Pleasure

Many of us have a certain piece of music that causes chills to run up our spines - music so good, it elicits a genuine physical reaction. Now, researchers at Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital have been exploring the brain basis of this experience. Kat Arney spoke to ...
13:32 - Dental-drill cancelling headphones

For many, just the distant sound of a dental drill is enough to elicit a cold sweat, let alone having to endure it first hand during a filling. But now a new, noise-cancelling device developed by a London-based research team could help to take some of the pain out of the experi...

16:27 - Going topless harms hearing

Despite their suave appeal, convertible cars could have to carry a health warning owing to the threat they pose to the occupant's hearing.
18:57 - Planet Earth Online - Variation in Viper Venom

Scientists at Bangor University in North Wales have found that different species of deadly viper snakes, tailor their venom to a particular prey. Knowing about these venom variations can help save lives as anti-venoms developed for one type of snake may not actually work for an...

24:21 - In the emotional tears experiment, did the subjects know what they were smelling?

In the emotional tears experiment (reported at naksci.com/news/16771), did the subjects know what they were smelling?
25:00 - In the Dissection Room

For thousands of years, people have been studying and documenting human anatomy. In these days, we do it to turn out well-trained physicians and surgeons. Students traditionally use bodies donated for dissections as well as prosections which are expertly prepared specimens tha...

35:22 - Donated to Science

A new film by New Zealand-based physician, Paul Trotman about what happens to a person's body when they donate it to a medical school. Kat Arney spoke to Paul about how he made the film and the reactions he got from the medical students involved.
44:56 - How often do you find something unusual in a dissection?

How often do trainee doctors examining a body finds something unusual?

45:46 - Naked Engineering - Artificial Limbs

Amputees can struggle with the inflexibility of artificial limbs. At Blatchford Prosthetics, they have engineered a new type of artificial ankle joint, and Dave and Meera went along to find out more...
52:58 - Are humans the only animal to drink milk from other species?

Are humans the only animal to drink milk from other species?

Comments

I would. I will. QuantumClue, Mon, 10th Jan 2011

The medical school I attended had enough cadavers for lab group dissection ( ie 1 between a group of four students) and talking with my contemporaries who were at the time at medical schools with prosection (a demonstrator - normally an FRCS candidate - leading a class and actually doing the dissection) I believe the knowledge and understanding of anatomy was greater and more profound with lab group dissection rather than prosection. imatfaal, Tue, 11th Jan 2011

In the United States there are a few different options for whole body donation for medical research and education. I actually work for a whole body donation program, . Being in this industry, I can tell you that donation is an absolutely amazing gift and we are so grateful for the people who donate so generously.

One thing I will caution folks about is to make sure and do your research about whole body donation programs. We recommend only signing up with a program that holds to the highest quality and safety standards and, at the least, has been accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). was the very first whole body donation program in the United States to become accredited with the AATB. You can see the full list of accredited non-transplant tissue banks on their website: www.aatb.org. jtrowles, Mon, 2nd May 2011

No. I know that sounds bad but I'm just like that. ryanmercer, Thu, 26th May 2011

only if they agreed to feed buzzards with the parts they dont use CZARCAR, Fri, 27th May 2011

Czarcar - find a Parsi hospital in India and they would probably agree to your request. search on Towers of Silence imatfaal, Fri, 27th May 2011

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