Flying By Brain

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Posted by timothy on Saturday October 23, 2004 @12:59PM from the brain-is-my-co-pilot dept.

Garabito writes "Scientists at the University of Florida made a living 'brain' by extracting 25,000 neurons from a rat's brain and culturing them inside a glass dish. Then, the neurons began to extend lines to each other, creating a living neural network between them. The dish had a grid of 60 electrodes connected to a computer running a flight simulator. The scientists were able to train the 'brain' to control the plane in the simulator and to react to conditions of the plane. Are we getting closer to create an artificially made conscious being, or perhaps, a living computer?" AlphaJoe was one of several readers to add a link to Wired's article on the experiment.

10 of 636 comments (clear)

Disturbing Experiment: Who is "I"? by reporter · 2004-10-23 13:12 · Score: 0, Troll

This experiment is disturbing. Clearly, the artificial brain has some sort of low level consciousness and can perform computation.
Is this brain the "identity" of the mouse from which the neurons were extracted? Alternatively, do the neurons remaining in the mouse constitute the "identity" of the mouse? Also, is the artifical brain now a separate and distinct identity that is separate from the identity defined by the neurons remaining in the mouse?
For the religiously inclined, "identity" here is essentially "the soul".
If we conducted a similar experiment with a human brain, would the artifical brain now be separate and distinct from the human victim who surrendered the brain cells for the artificial brain? Have we created 2 "souls"?
We need to ask these questions. We are Westerners, and we have a conscience. Neither Chinese nor Koreans would ask such questions; the first cloned person will likely appear in Korea or China.
Re:Disturbing Experiment: Who is "I"? by rejecting · 2004-10-23 13:16 · Score: 1, Troll

We are Westerners, and we have a conscience. Neither Chinese nor Koreans would ask such questions... Why exactly not?
Ethics? by thebagel · 2004-10-23 13:23 · Score: 1, Troll

Am I the only one who doesn't find this morally repugnant? I mean, for all we know this clump of nerves could be sentient. We don't fully understand the workings of a brain, and until we do, should we be dabbling in this kind of thing? How would you like your brain to be in a dish?
1. Re:Ethics? by Vlion · 2004-10-23 14:04 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  I wouldn't say this is sentience per se but...
  
  Technically I guess this is learning about the workings of a brain.
  
  But at what point can we draw a line and say, "this is wrong" ?
  Science is extremly amoral, and grants more and more power as things go along- lets not use the word "progress", okay.
  I'm not even talking about goverment oversight here.
  
  At some point, we just don't need to know more in some areas, and scientists should not go there.
  
  I've done a small bit of research, and if I was ever asked to do research in this type of area, I would have to refuse. Why is that?
  1) We don't need to know.
  2) We don't need to make Frankenstein.
  
  If you've ever read the book, Frankenstein was to be pitied, and the scientist to be deplored.
  
  We don't need to be all Dr. Frankenstein here.
  
  --
  /b
  |f(x)dx = F(b) - F(a)
  /a
Great. A dismembered brain can fly a plane. by user+no.+590291 · 2004-10-23 13:44 · Score: 0, Troll

Just don't upload the Koran into it, OK, guys?
Are we getting closer to create...bla bla... by at_slashdot · 2004-10-23 13:56 · Score: 0, Troll

Are we getting closer to create an artificially made conscious being No, "we" got some cells from a brain, we didn't "create" anything.

--
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -- Prof. Dumbledore
Re:Disturbing Experiment: Who is "I"? by Brian_Confucius · 2004-10-23 14:05 · Score: 1, Troll

Just to clarify, that's what a lobotomy is, isn't it? Just wanted to make sure.
Life is not a toy by wikinerd · 2004-10-23 14:27 · Score: 0, Troll

We should not play with life. Some scientists seem to have no respect for life!
Re:Just because we can? by rts008 · 2004-10-23 17:17 · Score: 0, Troll

"Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should ." You should have used your own advice and not posted.

--
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Re:Something is wrong here by Roger_Wilco · 2004-10-24 01:46 · Score: 0, Troll

Look, we simulate populations of neurons all the time. Sometimes they are extremely realistic on an individual scale. A colleague of mine at a has funding to build a Beowulf cluster, simulating IIRC around 40,000 neurons, bigger than this collection of rat neurons. See Chris Eliasmith's work here.
Do you shed elephant tears for the numbers floating around in our computers? Or do you think there is something magic about cells?