10 More Bizarre Tales About the Human Brain

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: The human brain is extraordinary. As neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran aptly puts it, it’s a “three-pound mass of jelly you can hold in the palm of your hand,” yet it has the power to “contemplate the meaning of infinity, and even contemplate itself contemplating the meaning of infinity.” As the most intricate organ in the human body, it's no surprise that there are endless bizarre tales about it.

10. Brains for Sale on eBay

Here’s a tale straight out of a Gothic novel, featuring a mental asylum, human remains, and a sinister grave robber by the name of David Charles.

Charles didn’t dig up any graves, but he did manage to break into the Indiana Medical History Museum multiple times. From the 1840s until the 1990s, the museum was housed in the Central State Hospital, a psychiatric facility known for performing autopsies. Once the bodies were dissected, the brains were jarred and stored in a warehouse—one that Charles repeatedly sneaked into.

After stealing six jars of human tissue, Charles sold his haul to an eBay middleman, who then resold them to a man in San Diego for $600. This buyer had a taste for the unusual. He was also guided by a personal moral code. While he didn’t mind violating federal laws by purchasing human organs, or eBay’s ban on body parts, he did draw the line at buying stolen goods. Neither Charles nor his eBay contact had the foresight to remove the museum labels from the jars.

Suspicious about the transaction, the San Diego buyer contacted the authorities. After tracking down the eBay seller, Indianapolis police set up a sting operation. The plan was for Charles, who had just stolen 60 more brains, to meet with his eBay associate at a Dairy Queen. On December 16, the cops surrounded the restaurant parking lot, successfully capturing the Indiana Igor.

9. The Cordless Drill Skull Surgery

Marian Dolishny was facing death. Suffering from an enormous tumor that triggered epileptic seizures, he risked blindness if he didn't act soon. Unfortunately for Dolishny, seeking medical help was no simple task. It was 2007, he lived in Ukraine, and the country's healthcare system was overwhelmed by bureaucracy and underfunded, making access to care nearly impossible. The situation seemed dire until a surprising savior arrived in the form of a seasoned British surgeon.

Henry Marsh, one of the UK's leading neurosurgeons, had been visiting Ukraine at least twice a year since the early '90s. Upon seeing numerous patients with massive growths on their heads, Marsh knew he couldn't simply return home and forget the faces he'd encountered. Instead, he began sending unused medical supplies from his hospital in Tooting to Ukrainian doctors. More remarkably, he began offering his surgical expertise free of charge.

This is how Marsh and Dolishny came together. However, having a top-tier surgeon didn’t mean the operation would be a walk in the park. Marsh lacked the advanced equipment typically required for such a procedure. But great doctors, like talented musicians, can improvise. Marsh bought a $67 cordless power drill from a local store and, with that tool, performed the surgery.

What’s even more astonishing is that Dolishny remained conscious throughout the entire procedure. With no qualified anesthesiologists available, Marsh simply used a local anesthetic. Since Dolishny was awake, Marsh kept up a running conversation with him the entire time, ensuring he didn’t make any fatal mistakes while working on the man's brain.

Before Marsh could complete the surgery, the drill's battery gave out. While most surgeons would have been flustered by this setback, Marsh remained calm. He finished the job using only his gloved hands, ultimately saving Dolishny's life.

8. Strange Stories of Ancient Brains

Your brain is composed of 60 percent fat, and because of that high fat content, it’s the first organ to disintegrate after death. This is why archaeologists frequently unearth skulls but rarely find preserved brains—the latter liquefy long before they have a chance to be discovered.

Every now and then, researchers unearth brains that are thousands of years old. For example, one of the oldest brain tissues ever found, approximately 8,000 years old, was discovered in eastern Florida, preserved under thick layers of peat. While these ancient brains aren't as ancient as those from the New World, the stories they tell are often far more intriguing, especially those from Europe.

Our first dark tale involves the Heslington Brain, the oldest known brain in Great Britain. In 2008, during an expansion of the University of York, workers stumbled upon pits dating back to the Iron Age. Among the finds was a skull, a jaw, and two neck vertebrae, all belonging to the same individual. When the skull was opened, scientists discovered the yellowed, shrunken remnants of a 2,500-year-old brain. The environment, rich in mud, had preserved it from decay. Marks on the vertebrae suggest that this individual had been hanged and beheaded, possibly as part of a ritualistic murder.

A somewhat less grim story comes from the Bronze Age settlement of Seyitomer Hoyuk in Turkey, where a 4,000-year-old brain was found. This brain resembled a charred log, likely because it belonged to someone who met a tragic end when an earthquake shattered the village. As the rubble fell, a fire broke out, consuming everything, and the brain was 'boiled in its own juices.' Though the process may sound unpleasant, the combination of rapid dehydration, oxygen elimination from the flames, and the nutrient-rich soil allowed this brain to survive for millennia.

7. Unlocking Lenin’s Brain

Vladimir Lenin was not only a prolific writer but also a deep thinker and philosopher. He managed to overthrow an entire government, subsequently positioning himself as an unchallenged ruler. But did his brilliance extend beyond political maneuvering? Soviet scientists certainly thought so.

Following the Premier's death in 1924, Russian scientists eagerly awaited the opportunity to study his brain. They were determined to prove that Lenin was among the most intelligent individuals ever. After his brain was removed, it was preserved in formaldehyde and stored in the V.I. Lenin Institute as researchers sought the perfect expert for analysis. Two years later, they settled on Oskar Vogt for the job. However, there was a hitch: Vogt was German, and the Soviets were reluctant to let Lenin’s brain leave Moscow.

In a classic Soviet compromise, the authorities allowed Vogt to take a small sample with him, but he would need to travel to Russia to examine the remainder. For years, Vogt made regular visits to the Moscow Brain Institute, but many Soviets were not pleased with this foreigner inspecting their comrade's brain. To make matters worse, Vogt claimed that Lenin’s brain bore similarities to that of a criminal.

Frustrated, the Soviets planned a trip to Berlin to retrieve the piece of brain they had lent Vogt. However, their mission was thwarted when Adolf Hitler dismissed Vogt from his post before they could recover the sample. The fate of that small sliver of Lenin’s brain remains unknown.

The Soviets then proceeded to slice up the rest of the brain into minuscule pieces and stain them with various colors. After the collapse of the USSR, Russian scientists published a paper summarizing the results of their nearly seven-decade-long investigation. Their conclusion? They had discovered absolutely nothing of interest.

6. The Woman With a Perfect Memory

Can you recall where you were on a random day 30 years ago? How about the afternoon of September 20, 1985? If you were alive back then, you might struggle to remember, but Jill Price can bring that day to mind without hesitation. She remembers wearing a large hat and dining on garlic chicken with her father at one of her favorite spots. And no matter which other random day you choose, she could do the same—because Jill Price remembers everything.

Jill has a rare condition called hyperthymestic syndrome, which grants her an extraordinary memory. Although scientists are still working to understand her mind, they believe that her exceptional memory is linked to several regions of her brain that are three times larger than normal.

Thanks to her unique brain, Jill can vividly recall nearly everything that happened between her 9th and 15th birthdays. After that, her memory only becomes sharper—she couldn’t forget a single thing even if she tried. However, there’s a strange twist: if you asked her to memorize a poem, she’d likely struggle. While her semantic memory isn’t particularly strong, her episodic memory—the ability to remember personal experiences and emotions—is flawless. But this comes with its own set of challenges.

In addition to remembering all the joyful moments, Jill also recalls every painful event in her life as if it just happened. This becomes especially difficult when thinking about loved ones who have passed or things people did years ago. As she once said, 'I don’t look back at the past with any distance. It’s like an endless chaotic film that can completely overpower me. And there’s no stop button.'

5. How Hugo Changed a Man’s Brain

Imagine living in a world that’s completely flat, with no sense of depth. When pouring a glass of water and looking from above, you wouldn’t know it was full until the water overflowed. Trees would be nothing more than flat shapes blending into the background. This was the reality Bruce Bridgeman experienced for 67 years, until Martin Scorsese transformed his life.

Bridgeman, a neuroscientist at the University of California, was one of the 5–10 percent of people affected by stereoblindness until 2012. This condition, which prevents the ability to perceive in three dimensions, was due to alternating exotropic strabismus—his eyes moved independently of each other. As a result, Bridgeman could only focus on one eye at a time, which meant he had no depth perception.

Then, in 2012, everything changed. Bridgeman and his wife went to watch Martin Scorsese’s *Hugo* in 3-D. Despite knowing it wouldn’t benefit him, Bridgeman bought the 3-D glasses and settled in. As soon as the movie started, images leaped off the screen. Everything suddenly felt vibrant and alive. Objects and people appeared to separate from the background.

What was even more astonishing was when Bridgeman stepped outside, he continued to see the world in 3-D. The lampposts no longer blended into the scenery, and a tree became a 'big three-dimensional sculpture.'

Scientists believe Bridgeman always had the potential to see in 3-D, but his brain simply needed a trigger. As he focused on the movie for 128 minutes, his eyes aligned with the film, and suddenly, his visual cortex was activated.

Of course, the 3-D movie method isn’t a universal solution. Some individuals require corrective surgery, others spend countless hours in therapy, and some may never experience the world in full depth.

4. The Man Who Could Only Say One Syllable

Born in 1809, Louis Victor Leborgne struggled with epilepsy for many years before things took a dramatic turn. By the time he was 30, Leborgne lost the ability to speak altogether. He could only utter a single syllable: 'tan.' No matter what you asked him, whether it was his name, his favorite food, or the time, he would always respond with 'Tan tan,' although he’d point to the correct time using his fingers. Louis Leborgne wasn’t unintelligent—he simply couldn’t communicate verbally.

Unable to express himself, Leborgne was admitted to a hospital in Paris, where he would remain for the next 21 years. Over time, he became increasingly difficult to deal with. He would argue with the hospital staff in a monosyllabic fashion and occasionally steal from others. If he became particularly angry, he could even swear—but only in those moments of fury, never when calm.

Leborgne’s condition worsened when his right arm and leg became paralyzed. Frustrated, he spent seven years confined to his bed. In 1861, he developed severe gangrene on his right side. In an attempt to save him, the hospital called upon surgeon Paul Broca. Unfortunately, the operation came too late, and Leborgne passed away on April 17 at the age of 51. However, his brain would go on to play a significant role in the field of neuroscience.

After studying Leborgne’s brain, Broca identified a severe lesion in the frontal part of the left hemisphere, a region that would later be known as Broca’s area. Further biopsies of similar patients led Broca to realize he was onto something major. For years, scientists had been debating whether specific brain regions were responsible for particular functions. Now, Broca had concrete evidence that the left front hemisphere was key to language.

It also appeared that this region was split into distinct areas, each serving a different function, such as language production and comprehension. This explained why Leborgne could understand as many words as anyone else, despite being able to speak only one.

Broca’s groundbreaking discovery reshaped the field of neurology. Today, Leborgne’s brain is preserved in a jar at the Musee Dupuytren in Paris, where visitors can see it up close.

3. The Family That Can’t Fall Asleep

Italian doctor Ignazio Roiter married into an old Venetian family, unaware of the terrifying history hidden within the lineage. His first encounter with this family curse occurred in 1973 when his wife’s aunt suddenly fell ill. She could no longer sleep, becoming trapped in a torturous state between consciousness and unconsciousness. Despite being exhausted, she couldn’t rest, eventually losing the ability to walk and speak before passing away a year later.

In 1979, another aunt succumbed to the same strange illness. It was then that someone remembered a grandfather who had died under similar circumstances. Intrigued, Roiter dug into church records and files at a local mental asylum. After uncovering several instances of relatives dying from sleepless deaths, he became convinced that a hereditary disease was responsible. When an uncle named Silvano died from fatigue in 1984, Roiter had the opportunity to confirm his suspicions.

Roiter took Silvano’s brain to two American specialists. Dr. Pierluigi Gambetti discovered tiny holes scattered throughout the organ. Stanley Prusiner, the second doctor, revealed that a mutated gene had triggered a group of abnormal proteins known as prions. These rogue molecules began behaving like viruses, infecting other proteins, and causing the brain to deteriorate, shutting down vital functions such as sleep.

There is no cure for fatal familial insomnia. If the mutated gene activates the faulty proteins, the individual is doomed to live in a perpetual state of sleeplessness. By 2010, scientists had identified at least 40 families affected by this condition. Until a cure is discovered, people like Roiter’s relatives will never experience rest—except in that final, inevitable sleep.

2. The Man Who Loves Johnny Cash

Mr. B, a 59-year-old man from the Netherlands, had struggled with severe OCD for four decades. Desperate for relief, he agreed to undergo deep brain stimulation, a treatment involving surgical implants that send electrical currents to his brain.

As Mr. B had hoped, the therapy was successful, significantly easing his OCD, depression, and anxiety. But it also produced a strange side effect: he became an obsessive Johnny Cash fan. Before the procedure, Mr. B had been a casual listener of Dutch music, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. Afterward, he bought every Johnny Cash CD and DVD he could find, refusing to listen to anything else.

Researchers are certain that the implants are the cause because whenever the batteries start to run low, Mr. B stops listening to Johnny Cash. However, once the implants are recharged, he resumes his devotion to the Man in Black, walking the line once more.

1. Brain Teeth And Brain Feet

In early 2014, a four-month-old baby from Maryland caught attention for an extraordinary brain tumor. During surgery, doctors discovered the infant had a craniopharyngioma, a growth originating from the same cells that form teeth. The surgeons found actual teeth growing in the baby’s brain. Thankfully, they successfully removed the tumor, but it wasn't the first time such a case had occurred.

Back in 2008, doctors in Colorado uncovered a brain tumor in the unborn baby of Tiffinie Esquibel. After inducing labor, they performed surgery, and what followed sounded more like something from a horror film. When Dr. Paul Grabb sliced open the tumor, a human foot emerged from the baby’s head. As the surgeons recovered from their shock, they continued their exploration, uncovering a hand and even a thigh.

Doctors believe the unborn baby was affected by a teratoma, a tumor that can grow bizarre body parts in strange locations. While this is unsettling, it was a much less terrifying explanation than the alternative doctors feared. Some considered the possibility of a rare condition called fetus in fetu, where one twin absorbs the other in the womb, causing the parasitic twin to feed off the other.