True or False: Everybody has a scalp

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Does everybody have a scalp?
Yes 50%  50%  [ 2 ]
Not all 50%  50%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 4

248RPA
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11 Dec 2015, 6:05 am

Yesterday, a boy in my class asked if everybody has a scalp. Another boy said that of course everybody has a scalp. I argued that some babies with anencephaly don't because the skull covering the brain is missing, and you can see right into the brain matter that has developed. He argued that the brain IS the scalp because the scalp is at the top of the head.


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b9
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11 Dec 2015, 6:29 am

248RPA wrote:
Yesterday, a boy in my class asked if everybody has a scalp. Another boy said that of course everybody has a scalp. I argued that some babies with anencephaly don't because the skull covering the brain is missing, and you can see right into the brain matter that has developed. He argued that the brain IS the scalp because the scalp is at the top of the head.

in my mind, the "scalp" is a layer of dermis that drapes the bulb of the cranium.
it seems that if there was no cranial bulb (ie. no bone structure), then the dermal layer would still be called a "scalp".
in the case if newborn infants and fetuses, the fontanels are not joined and so the scalp covers the brain directly.
the brain also has outer membranes like the meninges, and the purpose of the meninges and bony layer and dermal layer are to protect the brain in their own stages of effectiveness.

so if one had no scalp but still had a bony layer, infection would soon set in to the plate seams, and mortality would result.
if one had no meninges, then the dehydration of the brain mass and the friction between it and the inner skull walls would be unchecked and would result in mortality.
i think that the deprivation of a scalp (which is equal to the deprivation of skin) would render the sufferer to an onslaught of infection that would kill it soon.
it is similar to what would happen with 3rd degree burns
but maybe i am wrong



naturalplastic
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11 Dec 2015, 6:55 pm

The scalp is the skin covering the top of the skull.

So the rare babies who dont have skull roofage still have skin covering their brains ( I assume). So they too have scalps.