Head transplants

There is a lecture series put on through the neuroscience program called neuroethics. They present recent discoveries that have been in the news and talk about the implications for science and society. I recently attended one of these seminars on human head transplants. Surprisingly there was less debate about the topic than one would expect. Essentially the unanimous consensus was this is a terrible terrible plan.
So you might be wondering what prompted this discussion of a terrible terrible plan? There have been a few historical attempts to perform head transplants on lab animals in the 1950's in the USSR and 1970's in Ohio. None of them were actually successful from a neuroy perspective. Then in 2013 an Italian neurosurgeon, Dr. Canavero, made the bold statement that by 2017 he will have performed the first human head transplant.  He has gone on a seminar circuit promoting the idea and even has a TED talk.
He counters dismay in the field with the explanation that people have always been wary of the first transplants from blood transfusions in 1818, to the first heart transplant in 1967, to the first face transplant in 2005. His defense is if it could be therapeutical there is an obligation to develop it.
Let's look at the feasibility for a minute. His plan is risky and recovery includes a 3 month medically induced coma which alone has a 30-40% mortality rate. While there is a willing volunteer for the head transplant, where would you find someone able to give informed consent for the body part? Also since there has never been even close to a successful trial in an animal model, no regulatory agency would ever permit him to proceed. Right? Not quite, apparently he is set up with lab space and a surgical suite in China. In summary there is no scientific way that his plan would work and no ethical way for him to try.
What is cooler and more promising for any patient that would qualify for a head transplant? Brain machine interfaces. This is a technology that allows individuals to control mechanics via their brain waves. Most of the current models are completely external, so non-invasive. The also have pretty good precision as demonstrated by this lady using hers to eat a chocolate bar (complicated because it is a weird shape and easy to break if held too firmly or drop if held too loosely). So in case you were wondering whether to make a long term investment in head transplants or cool soon to be mechsuits, the answer is definitely not the head transplant.