“Give me your head!” Neuroscientists urge research into Brazilian whales and dolphins: NPR

A year and a half ago, neuroscientist Kamilla Souza received a call she was waiting for. Baby humpback whales drifted offshore in waters off the coast of southeastern Brazil. It was dead – and she wanted that brain.

“It’s like Alice in Wonderland,” says Souza, founder and director of science at Brazil’s Neuroproductivity Network. She riffs on the classic line, “Give Me The Head!”

Sousa has been fascinated by the brains of marine mammals since her youth. She says little is known about the brains of whales and dolphins living in waters off the coast of central and South America. However, studying them can teach scientists about the internal mechanisms of these animals.

When Sousa and her colleagues arrived on the scene by boat, the whales were washing the small island on land – and they had problems – they ran the alley Without a doubt I was able to get that close.

“You’re looking at the situation,” she recalls, and you say, “Okay, I need it. I’ll get this.” I’m not going. I didn’t have time to think I had to.

There, Sousa grabbed her scalpel and looked at her, and she swam to the shore. Soaking wet, she was able to take out the tools and extract fresh, intact brains from the recently deceased whales. She was overjoyed.

“It was the first extraction of whale brains here in Brazil,” she says proudly.

She then swam in the boat with her brain surrounded by protective containers.

Souza took it back to her lab, where she joined the class of what she says, becoming the largest collection of whale and dolphin brains across Latin America.

Competition with time

Inside the necrotic chamber, several veterinarians sharpen their knife and dissect another dolphin that has recently been stuck nearby. A parade of organs appears on the table to measure and take photos of the heart, kidneys, uterus, etc.

Sousa walks around her head. “So here we have our skull,” she observes. But she says, “I don’t have a brain.” That’s because it’s basically liquefied.

The minutes are important as heat in this region of Brazil accelerates decomposition. This is why sometimes Sousa has to extract his brain from animals that just died on the beach. “We have to deal with people, animals, the weather,” she says with a laugh. “It’s raining sometimes.”

Sousa is merciless, says Daniela Terres, one of the Orca Institute’s veterinarians. “Camilla can find treasure hidden within this flesh, corpses and smells,” she says. “She finds and studies the brain, and that’s amazing.”

A brain filled refrigerator

Souza opens a fridge that looks normal in her office and shows off some of those treasures. She has brains from pygmy sperm whales, various dolphin species, and more. She takes the lid from the largest plastic container and lifts a large amount of brain from the liquid preservative. It’s from that baby humptoux swimming on land to dissect, and it’s twice the size of a human brain.

“That’s why this brain is huge,” says Sousa with praise. “You need both hands to hold this brain.”

What lies ahead of her is undoubtedly more than that, the intricate essence of a humpback whale, that it makes her swim and sing.

Given her international training, her access to unstudied species, and everything she has accomplished, Sousa says she will be able to work abroad. “But I want to be here,” she says. “I want to do this kind of research here. My idea is to cover as many Brazilian coasts as possible. I want to bring this knowledge to Brazil. I want to do something new to Brazilian people and do something special. I want to inspire you to do it.”

One of those people is Heitor Mynssen, a PhD from Souza. Student. He is developing computer tools to model the brains of various acid bacteria in 3D. He also wants to contribute to the field from here. “We don’t have to rely on other countries all the time,” he says. “We show the world that we can actually do it ourselves and actually do good science. It feels like a part of me, as we can become a scientist in Brazil. ”

João Marcelo Ramos Nogueira, executive director of Orca Institute, is pleased to have Souza on his team. “If Camilla came in, there was a possibility of expanding our analysis and expanding our research.”

When Souza got the chance to see the ocean and think about the trajectory that took her to this moment, she said, “I am so happy with my work and I am so happy with it, so I am right.” I think I did it.” I am as a researcher for my country and for me. ”

Sousa says there is no doubt that the child she once was satisfied with where she ended.