Gamanit: The Mishnah (I think in Ohalos) says that a decapitated person is considered dead instantly. There is a Machlokes between contemporary Poskim whether that is a Din (if somene have no head/brain, they are dead even though the brain still reacts for another 30-45 seconds) or whether that’s just because they’ll bleed out and their heart will necessarily stop pumping in a few seconds. They did an experiment in Israel to prove something to R’ Shlomo Zalman with a sheep where they tied off the major veins and such then decapitated it. The heart continued beating for a day or two.
Menu