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Surgeon: First Human Head Transplant May Be Just Two Years Away
HughPickens.com (3830033) writes "Michelle Star writes at C/net that Surgeon Sergio Canavero, director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group in Italy, believes he has developed a technique to remove the head from a non-functioning body and transplant it onto the healthy body. According to Canavero's paper published in Surgical Neurology International, first, both the transplant head and the donor body need to be cooled in order to slow cell death. Then, the neck of both would be cut and the major blood vessels linked with tubes. Finally, the spinal cords would be severed, with as clean a cut as possible. Joining the spinal cords, with the tightly packed nerves inside, is key. The plan involves flushing the area with polyethylene glycol, followed by several hours of injections of the same, a chemical that encourages the fat in cell membranes to mesh. The blood vessels, muscles and skin would then be sutured and the patient would be induced into a coma for several weeks to keep them from moving around; meanwhile, electrodes would stimulate the spine with electricity in an attempt to strengthen the new nerve connections.
Head transplants has been tried before. In 1970, Robert White led a team at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, US, that tried to transplant the head of one monkey on to the body of another. The surgeons stopped short of a full spinal cord transfer, so the monkey could not move its body. Despite Canavero's enthusiasm, many surgeons and neuroscientists believe massive technical hurdles push full body transplants into the distant future. The starkest problem is that no one knows how to reconnect spinal nerves and make them work again. "This is such an overwhelming project, the possibility of it happening is very unlikely," says Harry Goldsmith."
Head transplants has been tried before. In 1970, Robert White led a team at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, US, that tried to transplant the head of one monkey on to the body of another. The surgeons stopped short of a full spinal cord transfer, so the monkey could not move its body. Despite Canavero's enthusiasm, many surgeons and neuroscientists believe massive technical hurdles push full body transplants into the distant future. The starkest problem is that no one knows how to reconnect spinal nerves and make them work again. "This is such an overwhelming project, the possibility of it happening is very unlikely," says Harry Goldsmith."
Just reconnect the spinal nerves? This is like saying interstellar spaceships are just two years away. Just connect the warp drive to the antimatter, and there you go.
Perhaps we should start by inventing a warp drive first? Or in this case, connecting severed spinal columns?
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
Seriously, are the people who cleam this serious? I don't think so.
"That's Frankenstein. "
First, that's _Doctor_ Frankenstein.
Victor, for my friends.
An it's pronounced Frank-on-steen!
One day there will be trillions of humans on this planet, brains only, connected to a huge computer, and all dreaming of a body of their own.
Please read "I Will Fear No Evil" to see how all this turns out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
A.
...bringing you cynical quips since 1998
The first thing they need to do is start calling it a body transplant, not a head transplant. The living person got a new body, the dead person did not get a new head.
Pat
Sitting in front of an electrical box that sends out signals to billions of people everyday is also against the "laws of nature."
Please live up to your own lame excuse for why this shouldn't be and stop sitting in front of that box.
Actually, computers and the internet, etc. do follow the laws of nature, quite well. Technically speaking, everything we do follows the law of nature, otherwise it would be miraculous. That said, it still doesn't address the morality of the issue.
And where do you (legitimately) find a "healthy body" without a head?
Any word on removing non-functioning human heads and planting them on perfectly good bodies?
Coincidentally, Sports Illustrated devotes a whole issue to that every year.
Well, heck. Now that we've mastered that pesky matter of grafting severed spinal cords, surely the optic nerve and other lesser bundles should be a piece of cake. So why not just do a brain transplant?
Anubis? Is that you?
Mary Shelley tried to warn us of this a long time ago.
No, she did not. Also, Nostradamus didn't predict Hitler or the September 11th attacks. As for the ethics of the issue, that's a tough one. I agree with you that there "may" be a black market for this, eventually. This isn't like getting a gunshot wound treated at a back-alley clinic. With proper regulations, it can be controlled in a safe, ethical manner.
Those heads are perfectly functional ... for the only functions anyone is really interested in employing them in.
Fit for use, as it were.
You're looking for quotes? See my journal.
What I don't understand is why do people without legs and arms get leg/arm transplants (how about bone transplants)? It seems that we would need to master that before we start attaching heads.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
NIXON'S BACK!
TLDR: Skip to the last paragraph for the best part. I didn't find it until I wrote all this up.
Since this is the 2nd Slashdot summary talking about this seemingly wacky procedure, I I decided to look into him a bit. Unfortunately the hard transplant stuff is 99.99% of what the search results return. He even gave a TED talk on the topic of human consciousness. It is possible this guy is just trolling to sell his recent philosophy book since he left his job as a neurosurgeon.
Dr Canavero believes that the brain does not generate consciousness, but only filters it. His goal is to open the filter and see what lies beyond.
Perhaps the fields of neurosurgery and chiropractic draw people who have a fascination with human consciousness, like how some chiropractors think that they can cure any disease by cracking your back?
He claims to be part of the "Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group" which is "a Think Tank for the advancement of neuromodulation." It looks like that group is just him, and perhaps one colleage named "Vincenzo Bonicalzi MD" who co-authored a book with him in 2007. Together they wrote "Central Pain Syndrome: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management" But in 2014 Dr Canavero self published "Immortal: Why CONSCIOUSNESS is NOT in the BRAIN". If you read the summary, it looks like your metaphysical philosophy.
The best part: Doctor Canavero and his "group" believe that through a combination of electrical stimulation and head transplants that he can create a society of perfect immortal beings.
Well, I can't think of a better opportunity to revisit the classic roleplaying tale of The Head of Vecna.
When someone says, "Any fool can see
Your comment is probably the most insightful here.
Even with extreme optimism about neurplasticity and nerve cells sliced in the middle (not separated at the synapses but chopped like a stalk of celery) deciding to attach to other sliced neurons, the idea of taking one spinal cord and gluing it to another spinal cord and having ANYTHING line up right seems absurd to me. Talk about a registration problem! I suspect the only way to do it would be to be to perform microscopic surgery where tiny machines connect neurons one-by-one. Of course, even if we had that technology, there's a whole other problem of knowing which ones to connect to which, which probably doesn't have a real solution as you pointed out.
Even worse:
Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner in swimsuits, making out.
Now imagine their secret love child.
I know brain injuries for events like near downing occasional leave bodies that can recover to health but the brain so damaged they will never escape a vegetative state. Certainly other brain injuries due to head knocks etc can have similar results.
How many of these bodies are really available? Hollywood would have us believe quite a lot but I am not sure that is the case.
That said how many of these potential donators are really out there ethically speaking? The body deteriorates when we are talking about a persistent vegetative state requiring feeding tubes and ventilators and such. Can we, will we in the foreseeable future be able to better identify when the patients brain won't recover. Right now there is already a financial incentive to pull the plug. What will happen to these patients who can't speak for themselves when those making decisions for them are under pressure to give their body to someone else? Will these lead to prematurely giving up on some folks?
Seems like there should be some lower hanging fruit to go after in terms of modern medicine than head swaps. In fact just focusing reconnecting the sever spinal cord in the same monkey without adding the additional trauma and unknowns associated with the rest of the head swap would probably do more to help the disabled, which I am sure far out number the persistently comatose.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Yes but I have to warn you, it seems resistant to sex.
Mostly random stuff.
I think he just wants someone to allow him to swap heads around on Monkey's to see what happens, I hope nobody encourages him.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
It goes against all the laws of nature
If you mean to say I personally don't like the idea then just come out and say it. Don't waste our time with the 'laws of nature' garbage.
From the perspective of the head it's a body transplant.
The body typically has no perspective of its own
so the idea of a head transplant is ludicrously funny.
We laugh to drown out the screaming inside.
Those heads are perfectly functional
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside
Come inside, the show's about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth
Greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth
You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo
There behind a glass stands a real blade of grass
Be careful as you pass, move along, move along.
[...]
Left behind the bars, rows of Bishops' heads in jars
<blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
And where do you (legitimately) find a "healthy body" without a head?
Motorcycle riders.
That's right, folks, when you get your Class M1 license, be sure to check the organ donor box.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
I recently read an article that was essentially "how could Steven Hawking have kids", and somebody with a similar condition basically stated that while you lose motor functions elsewhere, that particular part of the anatomy tends to work as it's part of the Parasympathetic nervous system
Or, you know, you could be talking out of your ass.
The reason the parasympathetic system control of the heart and digestion continues to function in a case of a transected spinal cord is that CN X doesn't run in the spinal column. Instead, it comes out and runs down the neck roughly along the path of the jugular vein.
Far from being "local control", the root of CN X is in the medulla. The brainstem.
Here, educate yourself rather than spreading misinformation: Vagus Nerve.