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'Brain Pacemakers' Being Tested
meshmar writes "Shades of 'The Terminal Man'? Rob Stein of The Washington Post has reported, via MSNBC, that: 'A handful of scientists around the world have begun cautiously experimenting with devices implanted in patients' bodies to deliver precisely targeted electrical stimulation to the brain in hopes of treating otherwise hopeless behavioral, neurological and psychiatric disorders.' A lot of good can come out of this - potentially. But I can see a the potential for misuse too."
in a kinder, more gentle way. Instead of causing huge pain in reformed criminals when they hear music, you can now just give them "corrective shocks" for the misbehaving brain segment! Next, we'll all be stepping in lock-step....
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Any technology can be used for good or evil. A board with a nail through it can be the beginning of a house for the homeless, or an instrument to bloody someone to death.
I'm a huge fan of new technology and was wondering when someone would start to broach this area. I've read several pages of different universities that were playing with this including my favorite Caltech. This is great as it's a step away from just having the patient hardwired into a computer system.
*DrugCheese rants*
Some things about living still weren't quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron's fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away.
It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.
Yeah, They have these for people with epilepsy. they stimulate the Vagus Nerve by sending periodic shocks.. I guess the idea is to set some regularity for the brain to base by.. but does anyone else think its dangerous to send shocks into nerves? Wouldent the heart be impacted etc?
Being able to "back up" a mind would definetly be one of those day-the-universe-changed moments. If death could mean more a loss of short-term memory since last backup, rather than loss of known existence, almost every aspect of our culture would be shaken to its core. Any number of results could be imagined.
Even if not in ROM-style form, some form of human-as-information seems innevitable. From emulation, to virtual-life recreation, to any number of things, the human experience may not be limited to DNA & brains forever. What that means for the presumed entities behind our eyes, we do not know. But perhaps that expansion of information is part of whatever human nature is.
Ryan Fenton
I think you need to have a word with the authors of published studies linking creativity and mental illness, because psych researchers at multiple universities disagree with your declaration.
A substantial and disproportionate number of world-famous writers and artists suffered from cyclothymia, if not full-blown manic-depression.FYI, there's another option besides ECT. There's a new technology called Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS). brief intro here
rTMS seems to have cured the depression that I had going on for the last 10 years (I'm 22). I'd tried nearly every kind of antidepressant, with no good/lasting results, and was ready to off myself, as I didn't consider ECT an option due to the risk of memory loss and/or brain damage. I was the one to mention rTMS to my last shrink (learned about it online, Wired might have had the first mention I saw), and somehow got a referral. I had an initial appointment, a brain scan the next day, and the day after that I was told & shown that parts of my brain were abnormal hyperactive and drawing resources away from the other parts. I had my first rTMS treatment that day and started a low dose anti-epilepsy drug and, tho I barely believe it myself, haven't been depressed since. The only side effects I've had are excedrin-treatable headaches here and there, and increased mileage on my car due to driving to chicago for maintenance treatments.
When I say I haven't been depressed, I mean the following:
Sad thoughts will happen, but my brain doesn't grab them and run off into despair anymore. Sometimes I'll come across thoughts that just a month and a half ago would have sent me into hours of crying or inertia, but now I'm able to be mindful, to go "oh, that's sad. hmm. that's sad because xyxyxy. I might as well think about something else." And then I do so and the parts of my brain that were white (overactive) in the scans don't dominate and I can just be myself and go about my day. I feel like my full brain capability is back. I'm more attentive, more creative. I actually feel like getting out of bed and doing things.
AND I can use my laptop, read, or even play gameboy during the treatments! in a comfy chair!
Plus now I have cool pictures of my brain!!!! I'm psyched to get scanned again and see what my normal brain activity looks like.
Seriously, go see a neurologist and definitely get a brain scan before getting ECT. IMHO, ECT is too broad a disruption to the brain when it's quite possible that it's more of a localized problem. rTMS is precise, requires no anesthesia or muscle relaxants (all you have to do is keep your head still), and far, far less neurological side effects like memory loss. (I haven't forgotten a single thing).
aie, what a first post. had to say something, tho.
as to the initial article, the implants would be a fantabulous idea for people who respond to stuff like rTMS but need it very frequently to keep sane. where I am now, I'd rather go to the doctor's periodically than have something stuck in my head, unless it gave me superpowers or something.