Giving Away My Brain

Synaptic Gasp by Flynn-Burhoe

I don't remember now where I learned of the Harvard Brain Bank, but several weeks ago I made a note for myself to look into donating my brain after death for medical study. Every so often, I am reminded to look further into this. When those reminders come, I hit the snooze button.

The thing is, it's tough to give away your brain.

I am an organ donor. Pledging organs is easier to do, I think, because I am not my heart or my liver or my lungs. I am, however, my brain. That's how I see myself. I live inside my skull. I imagine there are pulleys and cables that animate my limbs, that make me smile, that make me jump out of the way of cars.

This is the case and I know it is not the case. Everything in the Universe that I know or have ever known has been inside my brain.